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THE    AMERICAN 
PUBLIC    LIBRARY 


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l?/7 


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LIBRARY 
SCHOOL 


PKEFACE 

This  book  is  intended  for  the  general  reader,  espe- 
cially for  him  who  is  unfamiliar  with  the  general  devel- 
opment of  the  public  library  in  this  country;  for  the 
librarian,  who  will  see  in  it  little  that  is  new,  but  pos- 
sibly a  grouping  of  facts  and  a  mode  of  treatment  that 
may  be  suggestive,  or  at  least  interesting ;  for  the  young 
library  assistant,  to  whom  it  may  be  of  help  in  assimi- 
lating the  unfamiliar  facts  and  methods  that  are  daily 
thrust  upon  her ;  and  for  the  student  in  library  school  or 
training  class,  who  will  find  in  it  not  an  exhaustive 
treatise  on  library  economy,  but  rather  a  bird's-eye  view 
of  the  subject.  Facts,  methods,  and  figures  have  not 
been  avoided,  but  there  has  been  no  attempt  to  make 
them  complete;  rather  has  it  been  sought  to  present 
them  as  accessories  to  a  readable  account  of  the  general 
aims  and  tendencies  of  American  library  work.  It  is 
hoped  in  particular  that  the  book  may  make  critics  of 
our  public  libraries,  at  home  and  abroad,  realize  what 
these  institutions  are  trying  to  do,  and  how  far  they 
have  succeeded  in  doing  it. 


The  issue  of  a  new  edition  having  become  necessary, 
a  considerable  number  of  changes  have  been  made  in 
the  text,  bringing  the  statistical  information  up  to 
date,  and  chronicling  numerous  advances  and  changes 
in  library  administration  made  during  the  past  eight 
years. 


439201 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   MODERN    LIBRARY   IDEA 

PAGES 

American  ideas — Criticism  of  them  by  British  librarians — 

Some  comparisons  wath  trade 1-4 


CHAPTER  II 

LIBRARY  GROWTH  AND  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES 

Types  of  libraries — Libraries  of  long  ago — History  of  modem 

features 5-18 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   LIBRARY   AND   THE   STATE 

Meaning  of  "Public"  Library — Library  and  City — Boards  of 
Trustees — Funds — Propriety  of  public  support — Library 
commissions — Federal  relations — Library  postage — The 
Library  and  the  law        ....*..         19-33 

CHAPTER  IV 

THE   LIBRARY  AND  THE  PUBLIC 

Regulations  —  Applications  —  Registration  —  Guarantors  — 
Actual  users — Open  shelves — Restriction  of  number  of 
books  drawn — Charging  systems — Reserve  system — Fines 
—  Pay -duplicates  —  Foreign  books — Negroes— Disinfec- 
tion of  books — Hours — Loan  desk — Floor  duty  .  34-55 
vii 


CONTENTS 
CHAPTER  V 

READING   AND   REFERENCE  ROOMS 

PAGES 

What  is  "reference"? — Reference  questions — Compilation — 
Investigation — Reading-room  use — Newspaper  rooms — 
Maps — Prints — Manuscripts — Documents — Historical  and 
genealogical  material — Music — Avoidance  of  duplication 
— Inter-library  loans 56-75 

CHAPTER  VI 
THE   LIBRARY   AND   THE  CHILD 

History  of  children's  work — Types  of  work  in  children's  rooms 

—  Guidance  of  reading  —  Picture  bulletins  —  Exhibitions 

—  Story  hours  —  Objections  —  Discipline  —  Pledges  and 
"leagues" 76-94 

CHAPTER  VII 

THE   LIBRARY   AND  THE   SCHOOL 

School  hbraries — School  work  in  libraries — Model  school  col- 
lections— Sunday  schools — Text-books — Selective  educa- 
tion             ...       95-107 

CHAPTER  VIII 

TRAVELING   LIBRARIES 
Two  types — Statistics — Home  libraries — Rural  libraries  .     108-116 

CHAPTER  IX 

THE  LIBRARY  FOR  THE  BUSINESS  MAN  AND  THE 
MECHANIC 

Classes  of  reading — Special  libraries — Technology  collec- 
tions        117-124 

viii 


CONTENTS 
CHAPTER  X 

THE   SELECTION   OF   BOOKS 

PAGES 

Desires  and  needs  of  the  community — Fiction — Percentages — 
Lists  —  Censorship  —  Book  appropriations  —  Duplicates 
and  replacements 125-136 

CHAPTER  XI 

THE   PURCHASE   OF  BOOKS 

Book  ordering — Checking  of  bills — Second-hand  and  subscrip- 
tion books — Sets — Out-of-print  books — Editions — Prices 
and  discounts — Importation — Copyright     .       .       .     137-151 

CHAPTER  XII 

CLASSIFICATION 

Bases — Schemes^Notations — Chief  systems;  decimal,  ex- 
pansive— Author  marks — Shelf  location      .       .       .     152-167 

CHAPTER  XIII 

CATALOGUING 

Types — Accession  records — Shelf  lists — Inventories — Diction- 
ary catalogue — Subject  headings — Analytical — Alphabet- 
ization— Rules — Annotations — Card  catalogues — The  sheaf 
catalogue — Loose  leaves — Printed  catalogues — Ready- 
made  cards 168-191 

CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  LIBRARY  STAFF 

Division  of  duties — Hours — Holidays — Vacations — Salaries — 
Women  as  assistants — Promotions  and  grades — Exami- 
nations— Staff  rooms — Staff  meetings — Codes  of  rules — 

Staff  newspapers 192-205 

ix 


CONTENTS 
CHAPTER  XV 

LIBRARY  PHILANTHROPY 

PAOEB 

Gifts  and  growth — Unwise  donations — Carnegie  gifts — Con- 
tinued need  of  donations 206-214 

CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   LIBRARY  AS   A   PRODUCER 
Publications  of  libraries — Bulletins,  handbooks,  reports  .     215-219 

CHAPTER  XVII 

BINDING   AND   REPAIRING 

Time  as  an  element  of  cost — Strong  initial  binding — Points 
of  weakness — Materials — Rebinding — Replacement — Dis- 
carding—Mending         220-232 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

BRANCHES   AND   STATIONS 

Branches — Delivery  stations — Deposit  stations — Degrees  of 
centralization — Some  comparisons — Distribution  of  branch- 
es over  territory — Local  centers — Central  registration- 
Union  catalogues — Interbranch  loans   ....     233-252 

CHAPTER  XIX 

STATISTICS.   REPORTS.   ETC. 

Statistics  a  form  of  accounts — Financial,  library,  and  prop- 
erty statistics — Comparability  of  data — Questionnaires — 
Reports — Use  of  data 253-269 

CHAPTER  XX 

LIBRARY   BUILDINGS 

Functions  of  the  architect — Competitions — Plans  and  speci- 
fications— Bids — Sites — Rooms  and  departments — Stacks 
X 


CONTENTS 

PAGES 

— Special  collections — Open  shelf — "Butterfly"  type — 
Assembly  rooms — Carriers — Janitor's  quarters — "  Roof 
gardens  "  —  Windows  —  Fireproofing  —  Floors  —  Clean- 
ing —  Furniture  —  Charging  desks  —  Shelving  —  Heating 
—Lighting 270-302 

CHAPTER  XXI 

THE  LIBRARY  AS  A   MUSEUM 

Cooperation — Exhibitions — Prints — Mural  decoration      .     303-315 

CHAPTER  XXII 

LIBRARIES   FOR   THE   BLIND 

Styles  of  type  —  Comparisons  —  Cost  —  Publishers  —  Type- 
writers— Shelving — Circulation  by  mail       .        .        .     316-329 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

TRAINING   FOR   LIBRARIANSHIP 

Is  it  a  profession? — Library  schools,  summer  schools  and 
training  classes — Conditions  of  employment — Selective 
functions  of  training 330-341 

CHAPTER  XXIV 

ORGANIZATIONS   OF   LIBRARIANS 
National,  state,  and  local  bodies— The  A.  L.  A.— The  A.  L.  I.  342-355 

APPENDIX 

List  of  American  Public  Libraries  circulating  over  100,000 
yearly — Places  and  attendance  of  A.  L.  A.  conferences — 
State  Library  Commissions — State  Library  Associations 
— Librarj"  clubs— Library  schools — Some  books  and  articles 
on  American  pubhc  hbraries  and  their  work  (classified)  359-376 

INDEX 379-394 

xi 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Full-page  Illustrations  facing 

PAGE 

Children's  reading  room,  Flatbush  Branch,  Brooklyn  Public 

Library »        .        .  12 

Charging  desk,  children's  department,  Seward  Park  Branch, 

New  York  Public  Library 12 

The  story  hour,  Webster  Branch,  New  York  Public  Library  88 
Traveling  library  in  a  farmer's  home  in  Wisconsin    .        .        .114 
Rural  free  delivery  of  books  from  the  Washington  County  Li- 
brary, Hagerstown,  Md 114 

Bates  Hall  (reading  room),  Boston  Public  Library    .        .        .  200 

Reading  room,  Library  of  Congress,  Washington,  D.  C     .        .  200 

Free  access  shelves  in  branch  of  New  York  Public  Library  276 

The  stack  room,  Ottendorfer  Branch,  New  York  Public  Library  276 
Old  closed-shelf  system,  formerly  used  in  Branches  of  the  New 

York  Public  Library 292 

Open-shelf  system,  with  delivery  desk  looking  toward  general 

reading  and  reference  rooms,  East  Orange  (N.  J.)  Library  292 
Roof  reading  room,  St.  Gabriel's  Park  Branch,  New  York 

Public  Library,  showing  system  of  lighting  300 
First  floor,  St.  Gabriel's  Park  Branch,  showing  system  of  light- 
ing             300 

Books  for  the  bhnd,  New  York  Public  Library  ....  324 

Illustrations  in  Text 

PAGE 

Application  for  privilege  of  drawing  books,  New  York  Public 

Library 35 

Application  for  privilege  of  drawing  books,  St.  Louis  Public 

Library 36 

Borrower's  card,  New  York  Public  Library         ....       44 

xiii 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Borrower's  card  used  in  St.  Louis  Public  Library      ...  45 
Special  borrower's  card,  New  York  Public  Library    ...  47 
Triplicate  hook-order  slip  used  in  the  New  York  Public  li- 
brary        139 

Shelf  card  and  shelf-list  sheets 172 

Catalogue  card,  typewritten 186 

Catalogue  card,  written 187 

Catalogue  card,  printed 188 

Time  sheet 194 

Distribution  of  public  library  branches  in  Manhattan  and  the 

Bronx 235 

Union  shelf-list  cards 249 

Ground  plan  of  main  floor,  East  Liberty  Branch,  Carnegie  Li- 
brary of  Pittsburgh,  Pa 279 

Ground  plan  of  basement  floor,  Carroll  Park  Branch,  Brooklyn 

Public  Library,  New  York 280 

First-floor  plan  of  Flatbush  Branch,  Brooklyn  Public  Library, 

New  York '  .        .        .        .281 

First-floor  plan  Marshalltown,  Iowa,  Library      ....  282 
Ground  plan  of  main  floor.  Port  Richmond  Branch,  New  York 

PubUc  Library,  Staten  Island 283 

Position  of  electric-light  outlets  in  St.  Gabriel's  Park  Branch, 

New  York  Public  Library 298 

Tactile  print  alphabets  for  the  blind    .        .        .        .        .        .  320 


THE   AMERICAN  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


CHAPTER    I 

THE  MODERN  LIBRARY  IDEA 

Together  with  the  recent  great  multiplication  of 
popular  libraries  in  the  United  States — partly  as  a 
cause  of  it;  partly,  too,  as  a  result  of  it — ^has  arisen  a 
new  conception  of  the  library's  aims  and  duties.  As 
nearly  as  it  is  possible  to  express  this  in  a  few  words,  it 
may  be  described  by  saying  that  the  library  is  now  re- 
quired to  be  an  active,  not  merely  a  passive,  force;  it 
not  only  guards  and  preserves  its  books,  but  it  makes 
them  accessible  to  those  who  want  them  and  it  tries  to 
see  that  those  who  need  them  realize  that  need  and  act 
accordingly.  The  oldest  libraries  were  storehouses,  first 
and  foremost ;  as  their  privileges  were  extended  to  larger 
numbers  of  persons,  they  tried  more  and  more  to  aid 
their  readers ;  they  classified  their  books,  arranged  them 
systematically,  catalogued  them.  But  not  until  very  re- 
cent years  did  the  library  begin  to  conceive  of  its  duties 
as  extending  to  the  entire  community,  instead  of  being 
limited  to  those  who  voluntarily  entered  its  doors.  The 
modern  public  library  believes  that  it  should  find  a 
reader  for  every  book  on  its  shelves  and  provide  a  book 
for  every  reader  in  its  community,  arid  that  it  should  in 
all  cases  bring  book^and  reader  together.     This  is  the 

1  ~ 


.  ,,  ..cTHE.MPDERN   LIBRARY   IDEA 

meaning  of  the  greatjn[iiiiltiplica|i^a.ilL  facilities  in  the 
modern  library — the  lendiiig  of  books  for  home  use,  free 
access  to  shelves,  cheerful  and  homelike  library  build- 
ings, rooms  for  children,  cooperation  with  schools,  inter- 
library  loans,  longer  hours  of  opening,  more  useful  cata- 
logues and  lists,  the  extension  of  branch-library  systems 
and  of  traveling  and  home  libraries,  coordination  of 
work  through  lectures  and  exhibits — the  thousand  and 
one  activities  that  distinguish  the  modern  library  from 
its  more  passive  predecessor. 

This  broadening  of  the  library  idea  and  the  conse- 
quent ramification  of  the  functions  of  the  library  in  so 
many  different  directions  has  not  taken  place  without 
K^  opposition,  nor  is  it  accepted  to-day,  even  by  all  libra- 
rians. It  has  found  its  greatest  exemplification  in  the 
United  States  because  we  are  little  hampered  by  tradi- 
tion and  anxious  to  try  experiments.  It  might  have  been 
expected  that  some  of  the  experiments  would  be  rash  or 
even  grotesque.  Scarcely  a  line  of  library  extension  has 
not  been  followed  too  far  or  given  one  or  another  odd 
twist  by  some  one,  but  in  the  main  the  growth  has  been 
healthy  and  has  followed  directions  of  proved  advan- 
tage to  the  public.  In  every  one  of  these  directions  ob- 
jectors have  arisen  to  reprove  or  decry,  some  of  the 
greatest  steps  in  advance,  like  that  of  open  access  to 
shelves,  were  at  the  outset  advocated  by  a  small  minor- 
ity. The  new  ideas  have  had  to  win  their  way,  but  dem- 
onstrated usefulness  has  quickly  broken  down  opposition 
and  has  led  to  general  adoption. 

Above  all,  the  modern  library  ideas  owe  their  success 
to  the  very  fact  that  their  advocates  have  been  active 
men;  those  who  dislike  them  are  passive,  but  passive 
opposition,  while  it  may  keep  one  or  two  libraries  con- 

2 


THE    MODERN   LIBRARY    IDEA 

servative  or  **  old-fashioned  "  here  and  there,  has  no 
leaven  in  it.  Possibly  the  "  old-fashioned  librarian  '^ 
has  not  made  himself  heard  and  felt  sufficiently;  there 
can  be  no  sane  progress  without  steady  and  reasoned  op- 
position, and  our  library  ideas  have  perhaps  run  a  little 
wild  occasionally.  Of  late  the  most  violent  opposition 
to  the  modern  library  idea  has  been  on  the  part  of  some 
members  of  the  profession  in  England,  who  have  con- 
demned with  heat  what  they  characterize  as  American 
library  *  *  tomfoolery  ' '  and  extravagance.  Their  charges 
appear,  on  analysis,  to  be  based  on  the  assumption  that 
it  is  not  the  business  of  the  library  to  deal  with  that  part 
of  the  community  that  does  not  voluntarily  come  to  it. 
This  is  the  old  library  idea  pure  and  simple;  it  is  per- 
fectly clear-cut  and  understandable,  perhaps  more  so 
than  the  new  idea.  An  extension,  like  the  overflow  of  a 
river,  is  often  somewhat  irregular  and  undefined  at  its 
boundaries.  The  clearer  and  more  compact  theory  of 
library  function  naturally  appeals  to  our  British  cousins. 

But  the  modern,  or  perhaps  they  would  prefer  to  say 
the  American,  library  idea  is  simply  tantamount  to  a 
confession  that  the  library,  as  a  distributor,  must  obey 
the  laws  that  all  distributors  must  obey,  if  they  are  to  suc- 
ceed, in  the  largest  sense.  Other  distributors  search  out 
these  laws  and  comply  with'  them,  because  they  are 
pecuniarily  interested;  the  librarian,  having  no  direct 
pecuniary  interest  in  increased  output,  naturally  real- 
izes his  position  a  little  later;  yet  he  must  ultimately 
realize  it  and  act  upon  it. 

Now  the  successful  distributor  through  trade  is  pre- 
cisely he  who  does  not  sit  down  and  wait  for  customers. 
He  takes  the  whole  community  as  a  group  of  possible 
clients ;  he  tries  to  suit  the  tastes  of  each  and  to  create  a 
2  3 


THE    MODERN   LIBRARY   IDEA 

demand  for  his  goods  where  it  does  not  exist.  The  libra- 
rian must  do  likewise  if  he  desires  to  distribute  his 
goods  as  widely  and  as  effectively  as  possible,  and  if  he 
believes  in  the  modern  library  idea,  he  does  so  desire. 

Such  a  comparison  as  this,  of  the  work  of  a  library 
with  ordinary  trade,  is  highly  distasteful  to  many  per- 
sons, but  this  is  a  case  where  the  children  of  this  world 
are  wiser  in  their  generation  than  the  children  of  light. 
The  comparison  of  library  work  with  trade  holds,  of 
course,  only  in  so  far  as  both  are  systems  of  distribu- 
tion. The  laws  of  hydraulics,  which  govern  the  distribu- 
tion of  a  liquid  through  pipes,  hold  for  a  poisonous  fluid 
as  well  as  a  nutritious  one ;  similarly,  the  laws  of  distri- 
bution of  a  collection  of  objects  to  a  group  of  persons 
hold,  whether  those  objects  be  books  or  cakes  of  soap, 
whether  the  distributors  be  paid  salaries  by  the  public 
or  receive  money  a  few  cents  at  a  time  from  individual 
purchasers. 

In  the  following  pages  an  attempt  is  made  to  describe 
faithfully,  in  some  detail,  the  work  of  American  libra- 
ries; and  as  the  modern  library  idea  is  so  largely  the 
American  idea,  the  reader  may  judge  whether  recent 
extensions  of  the  function  of  the  public  library  are  or 
are  not  to  the  public  advantage. 


CHAPTEK    II 

LIBRARY  GROWTH  AND   DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES 

The  American  public  library,  as  at  present  consti- 
tuted, is  the  outgrowth  of  an  essentially  modern  move- 
ment ;  but  this  had  its  earlier  beginnings  and  manifesta- 
tions. In  Prof.  Herbert  B.  Adams's  report  on  '*  Public 
Libraries  and  Popular  Education,"  prepared  for  the 
Regents  of  the  New  York  State  University  (Albany, 
1900),  the  author  specifies  nineteen  *'  original  library 
types,"  of  which  possibly  the  following  may  be  consid- 
ered to  embody  in  some  respects  one  or  more  functions 
of  the  modern  public  library : 

(1)  The  church  or  parish  libraries  established  in 
many  of  the  colonies,  especially  in  the  South,  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Thomas  Bray,  founder  and  secretary  of  the  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  early  in  the  eighteenth 
century.  To  Maryland  alone  Dr.  Bray  sent  thirty  par- 
ish libraries,  embracing  2,545  books.  Dr.  Bray  accepted 
in  1696  an  appointment  from  the  Bishop  of  London  as 
commissary  of  ecclesiastical  affairs  in  Maryland  on  the 
express  condition  that  he  should  be  aided  in  the  pro- 
vision of  these  parochial  libraries  for  his  missionaries, 
and  in  a  pamphlet  issued  in  London  in  1697  he  an- 
nounced his  intention  of  extending  his  scheme  * '  for  the 
supply  of  all  the  English  colonies  in  America  there- 
with."   In  1698  one  of  Dr.  Bray's  libraries  was  placed 

5 


LIBRARY  GROWTH  AND   DEVELOPMENT 

in  New  York  for  Trinity  Parish.  Although  these  libra- 
ries were  primarily  for  the  use  of  the  clergy,  they  were 
open  to  the  public,  and  seem  to  have  antedated  the  town 
libraries  of  New  England  by  more  than  a  century. 

(2)  Town  libraries,  of  which  the  first  is  said  to  have 
been  opened  in  Salisbury,  Conn.,  in  1803.  Similar  to 
these,  and  in  many  cases  much  more  flourishing,  were 
school-district  libraries,  which  are  not  to  be  confused  with 
school  libraries.  The  school  district  was  selected  as  a 
smaller  and  more  convenient  unit  than  the  town,  and  the 
schoolhouse  furnished  a  place  to  keep  the  books,  which 
were,  however,  mostly  for  adults.  School-district  libra- 
ries were  authorized  by  law  in  New  York  in  1835. 

(3)  Subscription  libraries.  These  are  *'  public  "  in 
the  sense  that  they  are  open  to  all  on  the  same  condi- 
tions, without  discrimination.  The  cooperative  or  joint- 
stock  type  is  represented  by  the  Philadelphia  Library 
Company,  founded  by  Benjamin  Franklin.  The  *'  Mer- 
cantile "  type,  represented  by  the  libraries  of  that  name 
in  New  York,  Boston,  and  St.  Louis,  arose  about  1820, 
originating  in  the  desire  to  furnish  good  reading  for  the 
younger  employees  of  business  houses.  In  some  of  these 
libraries  any  person  who  can  certify  that  he  is  employed 
on  a  salary  is  still  charged  a  lower  annual  subscription 
than  other  borrowers. 

The  American  libraries  accessible  as  means  of  liter- 
ary culture  a  century  or  more  ago  were,  all  told,  as  given 
by  Horace  E.  Scudder  in  his  monograph  on  **  Public  Li- 
braries a  Hundred  Years  Ago,"  one  in  Philadelphia, 
two  or  three  small  ones  in  Pennsylvania,  one  in  Charles- 
ton, one  in  New  York,  one  in  Newport,  one  in  Provi- 
dence, one  in  Portland,  one  in  Salem,  one  in  Leominster, 
one  in  Hingham,  and  the  ''  revolving  library  "  of  Kit- 

6 


LIBRARIES    OF    LONG    AGO 

tery  and  York,  Me.,  apparently  so  called  because  it  was 
contained  in  a  revolving  case.  There  were  also  the  col- 
lege libraries,  which,  as  often  at  the  present  day,  were 
used  not  only  by  officers  and  students,  but  also  by  the 
educated  men  of  the  community.  The  nearest  approach 
in  Revolutionary  days  to  what  we  call  a  free  public 
library  was,  according  to  Mr.  Scudder,  the  Philadelphia 
Library,  which,  although,  as  we  have  seen,  it  was  a  joint- 
stock  affair,  gave  large  liberty  of  consultation  to  non- 
stockholders. It  is  estimated  by  Messrs.  Warren  and 
Clark,  editors  of  the  volume  on  *'  Public  Libraries  in 
the  United  States  ''  issued  by  the  United  States  Bureau 
of  Education  in  1876,  that  the  number  of  books  con- 
tained in  all  the  **  public  "  libraries  of  the  country  in 
the  year  1800,  including  book  clubs,  social  libraries,  and 
so  on,  was  not  more  than  80,000,  or  about  one  volume  to 
seventy  inhabitants.  The  editors  elsewhere  in  the  same 
report  state  their  conclusions  that  between  1775  and 
1800  there  were  established  in  the  United  States  30  libra- 
ries, which  at  the  time  of  writing  numbered  242,171  vol- 
umes ;  between  1800  and  1825,  179  libraries,  with  2,056,- 
113  volumes;  between  1825  and  1850,  551  libraries,  with 
2,807,218  volumes,  and  between  1850  and  1875,  22,040 
libraries,  with  5,481,068.  These  figures,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered, apply  to  these  libraries  or  their  successors  in 
1875;  the  writers  could  obtain  no  statistics  on  the  num- 
ber of  volumes  in  each  group  at  the  end  of  its  own 
twenty-five-year  period. 

The  joint-stock  form  of  library  is  in  its  simplest 
form  a  book  club,  as  in  the  so-called  '*  social  libraries  ** 
of  Massachusetts,  the  subscription  being  the  purchase  of 
a  share  or  the  payment  of  a  life  membership,  sometimes 
with  an  annual  subscription.    In  some  (iases,  however,  be- 

7 


LIBRARY   GROWTH  AND   DEVELOPMENT 

sides  this  payment  for  the  privileges  of  the  club  or  li- 
brary, an  additional  sum  was  required  for  each  book 
withdrawn,  and  in  numerous  instances  the  use  of  the 
newer  or  more  desirable  books  was  *'  auctioned  off  '* 
to  the  highest  bidder.  This  method  of  distributing 
books  was  in  vogue  in  Connecticut  at  least  as  late  as 
1880. 

The  really  progressive  free  public  library  belongs  to 
the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Before  that 
time  the  idea  of  a  collection  of  books  for  the  use  of  an 
entire  community,  supported  by  that  community  from 
the  proceeds  of  a  tax,  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  ex- 
isted. The  town  library  at  Salisbury,  Conn.,  named 
above,  was  established  in  1803  by  a  bequest,  but  the  town 
is  said  to  have  supported  it  for  some  time,  although  it  is 
not  now  in  existence.  Possibly  the  oldest  existing  library 
of  the  kind  is  the  one  at  Peterborough,  N.  H.,  which  has 
been  maintained  by  public  taxation  ever  since  its  founda- 
tion in  1833.  Legislative  authorization  for  the  establish- 
ment and  maintenance  of  public  libraries  by  municipali- 
ties dates  from  1848,  when  the  Massachusetts  General 
Court,  largely  through  the  pioneer  work  of  Josiah 
Quincy,  empowered  the  city  of  Boston  to  raise  $5,000 
yearly  to  support  a  public  library.  Under  this  act  the 
present  Boston  Public  Library  was  opened  in  1854.  The 
act  was  extended  to  all  towns  in  the  state  in  1851.  Simi- 
lar laws  were  enacted  by  New  Hampshire  in  1849,  by 
Maine  in  1854,  by  Vermont  in  1865,  and  by  Ohio  in 
1867;  and  they  are  now  quite  common  throughout  the 
Union. 

Really  active  progress  along  the  lines  of  the  *'  mod- 
ern library  idea  "  dates  from  the  formation  of  the 
American  Library  Association  in  1876.    The  rise  of  this 

8. 


OPEN    ACCESS 

organization  and  its  work  are  considered  more  in  detail 
in  another  chapter. 

The  chief  distinctively  * '  modern  ' '  features  of  Amer- 
ican public  libraries,  besides  public  support,  are  freedom 
of  access  to  shelves,  work  with  children,  cooperation  with 
schools,  branch  libraries,  traveling  libraries,  and  so- 
called  "  library  advertising  " — the  effort  to  make  the 
library  and  its  work  known  in  the  community  and  to 
induce  people  to  use  it.  While  all  these  features  are 
treated  in  other  chapters,  it  may  be  well  to  group  here 
such  facts  as  are  known  about  their  origin. 

Open  access,  of  course,  has  always  been  common  in 
small  popular  libraries,  but  was  until  recently  consid- 
ered by  most  libraries  impracticable  for  larger  institu- 
tions. In  the  Pawtucket  (R.  I.)  Free  Library  the 
shelves  were  open  as  early  as  1879.  In  a  discussion  of 
free  access  in  the  Conference  of  Librarians  held  in  Lon- 
don, October  2-5,  1877,  at  which  many  Americans  were 
present,  the  majority  of  those  who  spoke,  including  Dr. 
Melvil  Dewey,  condemned  it,  although  there  were  some 
notable  exceptions,  English  and  American.  The  first  re- 
corded discussion  on  the  subject  in  the  American  Li- 
brary Association  was  in  1888.  Only  partial  free  access 
was  approved  by  most  of  those  who  spoke  in  favor  of  the 
open  shelf,  but  there  was  a  notable  exception.  Miss  Mar- 
tha F.  Nelson,  who  reported  that  the  public  library  at 
Trenton,  N.  J^  had  for  some  time  opened  its  shelves 
freely  to  the  public.  The  leaven,  in  fact,  had  been  work- 
ing for  some  time,  although  in  a  symposium  arranged 
by  The  Library  Journal  in  1890  absolutely  free  access 
was  neither  reported  nor  advocated  by  any  of  the  par- 
ticipants, who  included  some  of  the  best-known  Ameri- 
can librarians.    In  an  address  before  the  Massachusetts 

9 


LIBRARY   GROWTH  AND   DEVELOPMENT 

Library  Club  in  1891,  however,  Thomas  Wentworth  Hig- 
ginson  lauded  the  open-access  library  as  the  ''  free 
library  of  the  future,"  and  mentioned  as  large  libraries 
that  were  carrying  it  out  successfully  those  of  Cleveland 
and  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  the  Boston  Athenjeum.  The 
last  named,  however,  was  not  a  free  library.  The  Cleve- 
land Public  Library  seems  to  have  been  the  first  in 
which  open  access  was  introduced  on  a  really  large 
scale.  The  plan  was  introduced  at  the  beginning  of 
April,  1890,  and  in  the  following  year  Mr.  Brett  re- 
ported at  the  San  Francisco  Conference  of  the  American 
Library  Association  that  it  had  been  successful,  and  that 
his  circulation  had  been  increased  by  it.  At  the  same 
conference  Dr.  Herbert  Putnam,  then  librarian  of  the 
Minneapolis  Public  Library,  described  his  experience 
with  open  access,  which  as  yet  was  not  granted  to  every- 
one at  all  times,  and  described  it  somewhat  cautiously  in 
his  title  as  "  a  possible  function  of  branch  libraries.'* 
"  Whatever  the  perplexities  of  detail,  freedom  of  ac- 
cess," he  said  in  conclusion,  *'  cannot  long  be  refused." 
At  the  Lake  Placid  Conference  of  1894  Dr.  Steiner,  of 
Baltimore,  presented  the  results  of  an  investigation  in 
which  135  libraries  in  English-speaking  communities 
had  been  interrogated  and  105  had  responded.  He  re- 
ported that  nearly  all  libraries  granted  free  access  to  a 
few  reference  books  and  many  to  nearly  all  such  books. 
Most  libraries  restricted  access  to  certain  classes  of  books 
and  some  to  certain  hours.  Of  the  libraries  that  allowed 
access  to  the  circulating  books,  **  the  general  verdict  is 
against  access  to  fiction  and  juvenile  books."  Six  libra- 
ries that  had  tried  free  access  reported  abandonment, 
and  Cleveland  was  the  only  large  library  reporting  ' '  un- 
restricted  access   of  all   persons,   to   all   books,    at   all 

10 


CHILDREN'S    ROOMS 

times  '* — in  other  words,  free  access  as  at  present  under- 
stood. From  this  time  forward,  however,  the  open-shelf 
system  rapidly  gained  in  adherents.  The  openinoj  in 
1895  of  the  Free  Library  of  Philadelphia,  in  which  ac- 
cess was  from  the  outset  entirely  free,  gave  it  great  im- 
petus. 

In  regard  to  the  next  feature  that  has  been  named  as 
distinctively  modern,  namely,  work  with  children,  its 
recent  character  may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  the 
voluminous  Government  report  on  ' '  Public  Libraries  in 
the  United  States,**  issued  in  1876,  has  in  its  index  of 
thirteen  closely  printed  double-column  pages  not  a  single 
entry  under  '*  child  **  or  "  children.'*  The  index  to  The 
Library  Journal  for  1876-97,  containing  130  pages,  has 
38  such  entries,  but  only  22  are  previous  to  1897,  and 
none  at  all  previous  to  1887. 

A  children's  library  was  established  in  New  York 
City  in  1885  at  the  initiative  of  Miss  Emily  S.  Hana- 
way,  principal  of  the  primary  department  of  Grammar 
School  No.  28.  In  a  paper  read  in  1887  at  the  Columbia 
Library  School  Miss  Hanaway  says  that  the  idea  came  to 
her  in  the  summer  of  1885  during  a  meeting  of  the 
National  Association  of  Teachers.  ''  A  thought,"  she 
writes,  *'  as  if  some  one  had  leaned  over  my  shoulder 
and  suggested  it,  came  suddenly  into  my  mind :  *  Why 
not  give  the  children  reading  rooms?  *  "  She  asked 
Prof.  E.  E.  White  if  the  plan  were  feasible,  and  he  re- 
plied, **  Yes;  but  it  is  gigantic."  Nevertheless,  the 
library  was  started  in  the  autumn,  with  a  few  hundred 
books,  at  243  Ninth  Avenue,  'and  after  being  closed  for 
the  summer  of  1886,  was  reopened  in  February,  1887, 
at  436  West  Twenty-fifth  Street.  Thence  it  was  removed 
temporarily  to  Columbia  College,  and  in  April,  1888,  to 

11 


LIBRARY   GROWTH  AND   DEVELOPMENT 

the  third  floor  of  the  George  Bruce  Library,  then  a  new 
branch  of  the  New  York  Free  Circulating  system,  whose 
children's  rcom  it  thus  practically  became.  In  the  fol- 
lowing December,  however,  the  trustees  asked  it  to  va- 
cate, on  the  ground  that  the  children  created  a  disturb- 
ance by  passing  through  the  two  lower  floors  to  reach 
the  third.  This  is  specially  interesting  because  at  pres- 
ent nearly  all  the  children's  rooms  of  the  New  York 
Public  Library,  having  each  a  circulation  of  500  to  800 
daily,  are  on  upper  floors,  and  the  children  who  use 
them  pass  through  part  of  the  lower  floor  to  reach  the 
stairs.  The  children's  library  was  then  removed  to  the 
third  floor  of  1554  Broadway,  and  the  last  public  record 
of  its  activities  was  an  appeal  for  aid.  But  nearly  two 
years  earlier,  and  but  a  short  time  after  its  inception,  in 
the  autumn  of  1886,  a  separate  library  for  children  was 
opened  as  a  branch  of  the  Aguilar  Free  Library  at  624 
Fifth  Street,  New  York  City,  and  this  maintained  its 
existence  for  years,  being  finally  continued  as  the  chil- 
dren's room  of  the  Avenue  C  Branch  (now  the  Tomp- 
kins Square  Branch  of  the  New  York  Public  Library). 
In  a  paper  by  Miss  Mary  W.  Plummer  {Library  Jour- 
nal, November,  1897)  the  separation  of  children  from 
the  adult  users  of  a  library  by  means  of  a  room  of  their 
own  is  stated  to  have  originated  with  the  Brookline  Pub- 
lic Library,  which  opened  its  children's  reading  room  in 
1890;  yet  this  is  antedated  by  several  years,  as  noted 
above,  by  the  children's  library  on  the  third  floor  of  the 
Bruce  Branch,  in  New  York. 

A  list  of  libraries  giving  special  attention  to  chil- 
dren's needs  was  published  by  Dr.  Melvil  Dewey  in 
Public  Libraries  (June,  1896).  From  this  it  appears 
that  at  that  date  separate  rooms  for  children  had  been 

12 


Childuen's  Heading  Room,  Flatuusii  Bkancii,  BiiooKLVN  Public 

Library. 


Charging  Desk,  Children's  Department,  Seward  Park  Branch, 
New  York  Pubuc  Library. 


CHILDREN'S    ROOMS 

opened  and  were  being  maintained  by  the  Cambridge, 
Boston,  and  Brookline  public  libraries,  and  substitutes 
for  such  rooms,  such  as  corners,  alcoves,  or  tables,  by  the 
Buffalo,  Cleveland,  Lowell,  Medford,  and  Pawtucket 
libraries.  Rooms  had  been  planned  for  the  Pratt  Insti- 
tute, Providence,  Detroit,  Pittsburgh,  Osterhout  of  Wilkes- 
barre,  and  Lynn,  Mass.,  libraries.  An  article  by  Miss 
Mary  E.  Dousman,  of  the  Milwaukee  Public  Library, 
published  in  The  Library  Journal  (September,  1896), 
mentions  also  children 's  departments  in  the  public  libra- 
ries of  Milwaukee,  Denver,  Detroit,  New  Haven,  Omaha, 
Seattle,  and  San  Francisco.  It  was  not  long  after  this 
that  a  separate  children 's  room  became  a  component  part 
of  every  properly  constructed  and  operated  public  li- 
brary. Miss  L.  E.  Stearns'  ''Report  on  Reading  for  the 
Young"  in  the  Lake  Placid  Conference  of  the  American 
Library  Association  in  1894  had  already  attracted  wide 
attention,  but  the  first  general  discussion  of  children's 
work  in  the  Association  took  place  at  the  Philadelphia 
Conference  of  1897,  and  was  largely  taken  up  with 
arguments  on  the  relative  merits  of  separate  children's 
libraries  and  children's  rooms.  In  the  article  by  Miss 
Plummer,  cited  above,  it  is  recorded  that  of  fifteen  chil- 
dren's departments,  eleven  circulated  books  from  the 
children's  room,  while  in  the  remaining  four  there  were 
collections  of  several  hundred  volumes  not  to  be  taken 
from  the  room.  The  number  of  volumes  shelved  ranged 
from  300  to  20,000;  the  daily  circulation  from  65  to  35. 
Only  twelve  years  later  than  this,  the  New  York  Public 
Library  had  in  its  children's  rooms  nearly  150,000  vol- 
umes, with  a  yearly  circulation  of  2,200,000.  Other  his- 
torical facts  may  be  found  in  the  chapter  on  work  with 
children. 

13 


LIBRARY   GROWTH  AND   DEVELOPMENT 

As  regards  cooperation  with  schools,  it  is  probable 
that  the  essential  relationships  of  schools  and  libraries 
have  been  reciognized  for  a  very  long  time.  School  libra- 
ries and  libraries  in  school  buildings  are  old  in  this  coun- 
try, as  we  have  seen.  Yet  systematic  effort  in  public 
libraries  to  work  hand  in  hand  with  the  teacher  is  com- 
paratively recent.  An  address  was  delivered  before  the 
teachers  of  Quincy,  Mass.,  in  1876,  by  Charles  Francis 
Adams  on  '*  The  Use  which  Could  Be  Made  of  the  Pub- 
lic Library  of  the  Town  in  Connection  with  the  School 
System  in  General,  and  More  Particularly  with  the 
High  and  Upper-grade  Grammar  Schools."  This  ad- 
dress was  termed  by  C.  A.  Cutter  at  the  time  ^'  the 
fullest  discussion  yet  published  of  a  question  .  .  .  that 
is  only  just  beginning  to  attract  the  attention  it  de- 
serves.'* ,  Mr.  Adams's  treatment  of  the  subject  is  suffi- 
ciently up  to  date  to  satisfy  the  most  advanced  library 
of  to-day,  thirty  years  after  the  delivery  of  the  address. 
The  Quincy  library  had  just  adopted  a  new  rule  under 
which  deposits  of  books  could  be  sent  to  schools.  Mr. 
Adams  points  out  that  this  is  the  opportunity  to  make 
the  library  *'  a  more  living  element  "  in  the  town  school 
system,  and  he  urges  teachers  to  call  on  the  library  for 
the  books  that  they  need.  **  When  you  begin  to  call," 
he  says,  **  we  shall  know  exactly  what  to  buy;  and  then, 
at  last,  we  could  arrange  in  printed  bulletins  the  courses 
of  reading  which  your  experience  would  point  out  as 
best.  From  that  time  both  schools  and  library  would 
begin  to  do  their  full  work  together,  and  the  last  would 
become  what  it  ought  to  be,  the  natural  complement  of 
the  first — the  People's  College."  At  the  conference  of 
the  American  Library  Association  held  in  Boston  in 
1879  numerous  papers  on  the  general  subject  of  the  read- 

14 


BRANCHES 

ing  of  school  children  were  presented,  among  them  one 
by  W.  E.  Foster,  of  Providence,  on  ''The  School  and 
the  Library:  Their  Mutual  Relation,"  in  which  he 
urges  modern  methods  of  cooperation,  but  gives  no  in- 
stances. The  Library  Journal  (April,  1897)  publishes  a 
symposium  with  several  dates.  According  to  this,  the 
Worcester  (Mass.)  Public  Library  began  this  work  in 
1879,  "Cleveland  in  1884,  and  Detroit  in  1887.  It  seems 
to  have  been  limited  at  first  to  the  furnishing  of  sup- 
plementary reading.  Milwaukee  began  class-room  li- 
brary work  in  1889.  A  special  department  to  furnish 
books  to  schools  was  established  by  the  New  York 
Free  Circulating  Library  in  1897,  and  in  1898  Buffalo 
organized  its  well-known  work  (see  Chapter  VII).  In 
1899  Brookline  opened  a  "school  reference  room."  In 
1906  the  New  York  Public  Library  organized  its  rela- 
tions with  schools,  other  than  those  concerned  with 
supplying  books,  in  a  way  to  be  described  later. 

The  first  free  public  branch  library  in  the  United 
States  is  stated  in  The  Library  Journal  (April,  1877) 
to  have  been  the  East  Boston  Branch  of  the  Boston 
Public  Library,  opened  in  1870,  although  the  establish- 
ment of  branches  had  been  authorized  in  the  original 
acts  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  noted  above. 
Branches  had  been  successfully  operated  in  England, 
and  unsuccessful  subscription  branches,  now  long  dis- 
continued, had  been  opened  in  surrounding  towns  by 
the  Mercantile  Library  of  New  York.  Doubt  was  felt 
of  the  expediency  of  the  East  Boston  branch;  but  the 
experiment  was  most  successful,  and  in  March,  1877, 
there  were  six  branches,  with  two  outlying  depend- 
encies. For  several  years  after,  progress  was  delayed 
by  discussion  of  the  relative  value  of  branches  and  de- 

15 


LIBRARY   GROWTH  AND   DEVELOPMENT 

livery  stations.  Boston  adopted  both.  Some  large  libra- 
ries, notably  those  of  Chicago  and  Jersey  City,  estab- 
lished large  systems  of  delivery  stations,  without  any 
branches  at  all.  In  other  places,  however,  particularly 
in  New  York,  systems  of  small  libraries  grew  up,  with- 
out relation  to  any  large  central  institution,  and  these 
were  called  "  branches  "  by  analogy.  In  a  paper  con- 
tributed to  The  Library  Journal  (July,  1893)  by  George 
Watson  Cole  the  writer  speaks  of  both  branches  and 
delivery  stations  as  '*  a  somewhat  new  and  untried  ex- 
periment.*' In  a  comparison  of  branch-library  systems 
made  by  the  present  writer  in  1898  {Library  Journal^ 
January)  the  only  systems  treated  are  the  New  York 
Free  Circulating,  the  Aguilar,  the  Boston,  the  Philadel- 
phia, the  Enoch  Pratt,  of  Baltimore,  and  the  Pratt  Insti- 
tute, of  Brooklyn.  An  interesting  discussion  of  branch- 
library  administration  at  the  Chautauqua  Conference  of 
the  American  Library  Association  in  this  same  year  in- 
dicates that  by  this  time  the  tide  had  fairly  begun  to 
turn  away  from  the  delivery-station  idea,  and  only 
ten  years  later  we  find  small  places,  like  East  Orange, 
N.  J.,  building  branch  libraries,  and  a  citizen's  commit- 
tee instancing  Chicago's  great  system  of  delivery  sta- 
tions, probably  the  best  in  the  world,  as  a  count  in  an 
indictment  of  inefficiency.  This  very  rapid  spread  of 
the  branch-library  idea  is  doubtless  in  part  due  to  the 
pressure  of  circumstances  that  forced  the  establishment 
of  small  local  libraries  in  cities  like  New  York,  Brook- 
lyn, and  Philadelphia.  These  systems  showed  what 
could  be  accomplished  through  branches  alone  and 
served  as  a  more  convincing  object  lesson  than  the  quar- 
ter-century-old branches  attached  to  a  few  large  libra- 
ries as  mere  appanages. 

16 


TRAVELING   LIBRARIES 

As  for  traveling  libraries,  we  hear  of  them  in  Scot- 
land as  early  as  1810,  where  they  were  used  in 
parish  work.  In  1877  the  public  library  of  Mel- 
bourne, Australia,  lent  books  in  cases  of  fifty  each 
to  out-of-town  libraries,  circulating  thus  about  8,000  vol- 
umes through  eighteen  localities.  The  first  educational 
traveling  libraries  were  sent  out  from  Oxford  Univer- 
sity, England,  to  local  committees  in  towns  where  uni- 
versity extension  lectures  were  given.  The  origin  of  the 
traveling  library  is  thus  essentially  British.  In  this 
country  the  Seaman 's  Friend  Society  has  long  been  send- 
ing traveling  libraries  on  shipboard,  and  the  Govern- 
ment has  also  for  many  years  sent  collections  of  books  to 
lighthouses.  According  to  Prof.  Adams's  monograph 
on  ''  Public  Libraries  and  Popular  Education,"  from 
which  quotation  has  already  been  made,  the  State  of 
New  York  first  practically  adapted  the  educational  trav- 
eling library  to  local  needs  in  this  country.  The  sending 
out  of  such  libraries  by  the  State  was  authorized  by  a 
resolution  of  the  Regents  dated  July  10,  1889,  but  the 
first  library  was  not  sent  out  until  1893.  In  1895  Michi- 
gan and  Montana  enacted  traveling-library  legislation, 
and  in  1896  these  were  followed  by  Iowa.  In  the  latter 
year  a  system  was  established  in  Wisconsin  at  the  per- 
sonal expense  of  Hon.  I.  H.  Stout,  a  trustee  of  the  li- 
brary at  Menomonie,  Wis.  Traveling-library  work  done 
by  public  libraries  within  their  own  territory  began  in 
connection  with  work  with  schools,  as  outlined  above, 
although  the  collections  of  books  thus  sent  were  at  first 
seldom  called  '*  traveling  libraries,'*  and  are  often  still 
known  simply  as  "  deposits."  In  1897  the  New  York 
Free  Circulating  Library,  which  had  for  several  years 
been  sending  books  to  schools  from  separate  branches, 

17 


LIBRARY   GROWTH  AND   DEVELOPMENT 

formed  its  traveling-library  department,  which  now,  con- 
tinued as  the  Traveling-library  Office  of  the  New  York 
Public  Library,  does  probably  the  largest  work  of  this 
sort  in  the  world.  In  1896  the  Free  Library  of  Phila- 
delphia began  to  send  out  traveling  libraries,  and  by 
this  time  the  method  had  become  firmly  established. 
Its  more  recent  growth  in  usefulness  and  popularity  is 
familiar,  and  it  doubtless  has  an  even  wider  future  be- 
fore it. 

With  regard  to  advertising,  or  ''publicity/'  as  most 
libraries  choose  to  call  it,  the  thing  is  not  new,  but  re- 
alization of  its  importance  is  quite  recent.  Begipning 
with  printed  lists  of  books  and  monthly  bulletins,  the 
printed  publicity  of  the  public  library  now  includes 
posters,  placards,  illustrated  handbooks  and  pamphlets 
on  phases  of  its  work,  and  even  paid  advertising  in 
the  newspapers.  Other  publicity  devices  include  "Li- 
brary days,"  "book-weeks,"  "visitors'  nights,"  and 
other  periods  or  occasions  on  which  the  claims  of  the 
library  are  pushed,  together  with  exhibits  of  various 
kinds,  both  in  the  library  itself  and  at  local  fairs  or 
celebrations.  A  satisfied  public,  of  course,  is  the  very 
best  agent,  of  publicity. 

There  is  now  an  A.  L.  A.  committee  on  publicity,  in 
whose  latest  report  the  employment  of  a  paid  publicity 
agent  for  the  Association  is  advocated. 

This  somewhat  scrappy  collection  of  data  regarding 
the  early  history  of  some  of  the  features  of  the  modern 
public  library  is,  after  all,  a  faithful  presentation  of  the 
way  in  which  that  library,  as  we  now  know  it,  came 
into  being.  It  is  a  "thing  of  shreds  and  patches," 
though  now  welded  together  into  a  complete  whole. 

18 


CHAPTEE  III 

THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  STATE 

What  is  a  **  Public  "  library?  The  word  ''  pub- 
lic '^  has  been  and  is  still  used  in  this  and  similar  con- 
nections with  various  shades  of  meaning;  in  the  same 
phrase  it  may  even  have  different  significations  in  dif- 
ferent communities.  For  instance  a  ^'  public  '*  school 
in  the  United  States  is  a  free  school,  supported  by  the 
public;  in  England  it  is  a  school  in  which  tuition  is 
charged,  but  which  is  open  to  all  on  the  same  conditions. 
In  this  country  the  word  has  been  held  to  imply  use 
without  payment;  yet  a  ''  public  ''  conveyance  always 
requires  a  fee.  It  may  signify  municipal  or  state  own- 
ership ;  yet  a  * '  public  * '  carriage  is  always  privately 
owned.  It  may  denote  accessibility;  yet  a  "  public  '' 
building  may  be  in  great  part,  or  even  wholly,  denied 
to  the  public.  As  used  in  connection  with  libraries  it 
has  been  and  is  still  applied  to  privately  owned  insti- 
tutions whose  use  is  given  free  to  the  public,  such  as 
the  Pratt  Institute  Free  Library,  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. ; 
to  private  corporations  doing  public  work  by  contract, 
like  the  Public  Libraries  of  New  York  and  Buffalo;  to 
libraries  owned  by  the  municipality  and  supported  by 
taxation,  like  the  Boston  Public  Library,  and  even  to 
institutions  where  a  fee  is  charged  for  the  use  of  part 
or  all  of  the  collection,  so  long  as  there  is  no  discrimina- 
tion between  different  users  or  classes  of  users.  In  this 
3  19 


THE    LIBRARY   AND    THE    STATE 

last  category,  indeed,  must  be  placed  the  increasing 
number  of  public  libraries  that  have  adopted  the  ''  St. 
Louis  plan  ''  or  ''  pay-duplicate  system  "  for  popular 
fiction. 

Finding  it  necessary  to  adopt  an  official  definition  of 
a  ' '  public  library, '  *  the  New  York  State  authorities  in- 
clude under  this  designation  only  libraries  owned  di- 
rectly by  the  municipality,  supported  by  taxation  and 
free  to  the  public.  On  this  definition  the  New  York 
Public  Library,  the  Pratt  Institute  Free  Library,  and 
many  others  equally  well  known  are  not  public  libraries 
at  all.  The  definition  must  be  regarded  as  technical 
and  local.  In  general,  a  '*  public  "  library  in  the 
United  States  is  either  owned  or  controlled  by  the  pub- 
lic, or  freely  accessible  to  the  public;  or  it  has  two  of 
these  features  or  all  three  of  them. 

Where  a  public  library  is  owned  by  a  city  or  town 
it  is  generally  managed  by  a  separate  board  of  trustees, 
although  sometimes  it  is  operated  as  part  of  the  educa- 
tional work  of  the  municipality,  and  sometimes  its  gov- 
erning board  has  other  public  institutions,  such  as  a 
museum  or  an  art  gallery,  under  its  charge.  Although 
something  may  be  said  in  favor  of  combinations  of  this 
sort,  they  often  result  in  discrimination  against  the  li- 
brary, and  it  is  the  general  opinion  among  librarians 
that  the  board  of  directors,  trustees,  or  managers  that 
administers  the  library  should  be  as  independent  as 
possible. 

The  board  may  have  various  degrees  of  affiliation 
with  the  municipal  government;  the  connection  may  be 
simply  that  all  or  part  of  its  members  are  appointed  by 
the  mayor,  the  board  when  organized  acting  as  a  sepa- 
rate corporation  and  often  constituting  a  separate  body 

20 


LIBRARY  AND  CITY 

in  law.  On  the  other  hand,  appropriations  may  be 
made  and  bills  paid  as  in  the  case  of  any  other  city  de- 
partment. The  employees  may  then  be  on  the  city  pay- 
rolls and  are  often  subject  to  civil-service  regulations. 

Change  in  the  form  of  the  city  government,  espe- 
cially from  the  introduction  of  the  ''commission"  plan, 
has  occasionally  introduced  confusion  into  library  ad- 
ministration, either  because  the  library  board  has  been 
formally  abolished  by  law  and  the  library  placed  un- 
der the  jurisdiction  of  some  department  having  little 
xor  nothing  to  do  with  it,  or  because  the  law  has  left 
the  relation  of  the  library  to  the  new  government  in 
doubt.  In  1912  and  again  in  1913,  a  special  committee 
of  the  American  Library  Association  on  the  Relation 
of  the  Library  to  the  Municipality,  called  attention  to 
these  facts  and  strongly  recommended  that  where  the 
library  is  grouped  with  other  city  institutions,  its  edu- 
cational functions  should  be  publicly  recognized. 

A  close  connection  with  the  city  is  apt,  on  occasion, 
to  throw  the  library  into  politics.  A  plan  that  removes 
the  library  from  city  ownership,  while  preserving  a 
wholesome  amount  of  public  control,  makes  the  library 
a  private  corporation,  doing  public  work  by  contract. 
The  contract  may  specify  to  what  extent  the  city  shall 
contribute  to  the  library's  support,  whether  it  shall 
furnish  sites  for  branch  buildings,  etc.,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  what  privileges  the  library  shall  offer 
to  the  public,  during  what  hours  and  on  what 
days  it  shall  be  open,  and  so  on.  The  manner 
in  which  the  city  appropriation  shall  be  paid  over 
and  accounted  for,  will  also  naturally  be  defined.  This 
form  of  connection  has  generally  resulted  from 
the   transformation  of  a  former  subscription  library 

21 


THE    LIBRARY   AND    THE    STATE 

into  a  free  public  library.  It  is  an  effective  method  of 
making  such  a  change  without  requiring  the  older  body- 
to  transfer  to  the  city  the  title  to  its  property;  but  it 
may  also  be  adopted  for  a  newly  organized  library  with 
equal  value  and  success. 

The  board  of  library  trustees,  however  formed  and 
constituted,  may  be  of  any  size  and  may  or  may  not 
do  its  work  through  committees.  Much  is  to  be  said  in 
favor  of  a  small  board,  which  is  more  easily  convened 
and  is  less  unwieldy  than  a  larger  body ;  but  the  neces- 
sity that  different  classes  of  the  community  shall  be 
properly  represented,  and  the  desire  to  compliment  men 
of  influence  and  to  interest  them  in  the  library's  work, 
often  make  it  of  considerable  size.  A  somewhat  apoc- 
ryphal board,  sometimes  cited  by  librarians  as  the  limit 
in  this  direction,  is  said  to  have  consisted  of  thirty 
ladies  who  met  three  times  a  week. 

The  main  duties  of  a  library  board  are  to  hold  and 
care  for  the  library  property,  both  buildings  and  securi- 
ties, and  to  decide  on  the  main  features  of  library 
policy.  It  should  concern  itself  generally  with  results; 
seldom  with  methods.  Having  selected  a  competent  li- 
brarian, who  stands  to  the  board  in  the  relation  of  both 
executive  officer  and  expert  adviser,  it  leaves  him  free 
to  carry  out  the  policy  of  the  library  in  whatever  way 
may  seem  to  him  best.  Practically,  the  measure  of  con- 
trol exercised  by  the  board  over  the  librarian  varies  in 
different  places.  It  is  naturally  less,  the  more  perfect 
the  confidence  reposed  in  the  executive  officer.  The  size 
of  the  board  has  little  to  do  with  it.  In  some  libraries 
a  small  board,  meeting  frequently,  perhaps  once  a  week, 
acts  as  a  committee  of  the  whole  and  does  duty  for  the 
half  dozen  committees  into  which  a  larger  board  is  com- 

22 


TRUSTEES    AND    FUNDS 

monly  divided.  A  large  board,  meeting  once  a  month, 
does  little  more,  usually,  than  to  ratify  the  action  of  its 
various  committees,  which  have  met  in  the  interim  as 
often  as  necessary.  The  names  and  duties  of  these  com- 
mittees vary  widely.  Some  of  the  most  common  are :  an 
executive  committee,  to  exercise  the  authority  of  the 
board  when  it  is  not  in  session;  a  book  committee,  to 
select  books  and  authorize  their  purchase;  a  finance 
committee;  and  a  building  or  house  committee,  to  care 
for  the  building  or  buildings  of  the  library.  Sometimes 
the  operation  of  the  library  is  specially  intrusted  to  a 
committee  on  administration  or  a  library  committee, 
which  confirms  staff  appointments.  There  may  also  be 
committees  on  art,  on  lectures,  on  museum  exhibits,  and 
so  on  ad  libitum.  The  number  of  these  committees  is 
by  no  means  a  measure  of  the  degree  of  supervision  ex- 
ercised by  the  board.  A  large  board  with  many  com- 
mittees may  practically  defer  almost  entirely  to  the  li- 
brarian's opinion  and  wishes;  whereas  a  small  one  with 
no  subdivision  of  duties  may  insist  on  a  close  connec- 
tion with  the  details  of  administration. 

The  funds  at  the  disposal  of  the  public  library  may 
be  partly  the  proceeds  of  taxation,  partly  receipts  in 
the  course  of  administration,  such  as  fines,  partly  inter- 
est on  endowment  funds,  and  partly  current  gifts. 

The  funds  from  taxation  may  be  the  proceeds  of  a 
special  town  or  city  tax  levied  for  the  support  of  the 
library  in  accordance  with  a  state  law,  either  man- 
datory or  permissive.  They  may  result  simply  from  a 
municipal  appropriation  in  accordance  with  law,  regu- 
lated sometimes  by  the  circulation  of  the  library,  some- 
times by  the  provisions  of  a  contract,  as  explained 
above.    They  may  be  also,  in  part,  a  special  grant  from 

23 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  STATE 

the  state,  such  as  the  allotment  of  one  hundred  dollars, 
paid  to  every  library,  large  or  small,  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  for  the  purchase  of  books  approved  by  the  proper 
authorities,  conditioned  upon  the  appropriation  by  the 
trustees  of  an  equal  amount  for  a  like  purpose. 

These  public  funds,  from  whatever  source,  may  be 
paid  to  the  library  in  a  lump  sum,  or  in  regular  install- 
ments, without  classification,  in  which  case  they  are 
appropriated  by  the  trustees,  either  in  accordance  with 
an  annual  budget,  or  as  occasion  may  arise,  for  the  pur- 
poses of  maintenance.  Or  the  municipality,  in  making 
its  appropriation  or  allotment,  may  itself  make  the  clas- 
sification either  wholly  or  in  part,  giving  a  specified  sum 
for  salaries,  another  for  fuel  and  light,  another  for 
books  and  periodicals,  another  for  building  repairs,  an- 
other for  rent  and  insurance,  and  so  on.  In  case  the 
municipal  classification  is  broad,  a  closer  one  may  be 
made  by  the  trustees,  so  long  as  it  does  not  interfere 
with  the  former.  In  any  case  the  city  will  naturally 
require  the  library  to  render  an  account,  at  least  once 
a  year  and  perhaps  oftener,  of  the  way  in  which  its 
grant  has  been  spent.  The  strictness  of  this  report  and 
the  complexity  of  its  forms,  as  well  as  the  requirement 
of  vouchers,  will  depend  on  circumstances,  and  es- 
pecially on  the  methods  of  bookkeeping  of  the  particular 
municipality  in  question. 

Moneys  received  in  the  regular  course  of  administra- 
tion, such  as  fines,  payment  for  lost  books,  rebates,  pro- 
ceeds of  the  sale  of  catalogues,  lists,  or  manuals,  etc., 
are  differently  treated  in  different  libraries.  In  some 
places  the  trustees  are  allowed  to  dispose  of  these  as  they 
desire,  in  others,  the  city  claims  jurisdiction  over  them, 
in  which  case  it  may  either  require  them  to  be  turned 

24 


PUBLIC    SUPPORT 

in  to  the  municipal  treasury  (sometimes,  but  not  al- 
ways, to  be  reappropriated  to  library  use,  as  a  matter 
of  course),  or  it  may  prescribe  that  they  shall  be  spent 
in  some  specified  way,  as  for  books  or  salaries,  and  duly 
accounted  for.  In  this  case  they  may  be  subtracted 
from  the  amount  of  the  next  annual  appropriation. 

Interest  on  endowment  and  current  gifts  the  munici- 
pality, of  course,  does  not  attempt  to  control,  unless  it, 
instead  of  the  board  of  trustees,  holds  the  securities  or 
receives  the  gifts.  Here  much  depends  on  the  nature  of 
the  connection  between  the  library  and  the  municipal 
government,  and  the  possibility  of  confusion  or  dis- 
agreement is  an  additional  argument  for  as  independent 
a  board  of  trustees  as  is  possible. 

Regarding  the  propriety  of  public  support  for  such 
an  institution  as  a  library,  there  is  now  very  little  dis- 
cussion in  the  United  States,  although  such  an  eminent 
publicist  as  Prof.  Goldwin  Smith  has  recently  pro- 
nounced against  it,  saying  that  there  is  no  more  reason 
for  providing  free  books  from  the  public  purse  than 
free  food  or  free  clothing.  The  American  public,  how- 
ever, has  come  to  consider  the  library  as  an  essential 
part  of  its  system  of  public  education,  and  that  the 
state  should  educate  its  citizens  is  now  regarded  by  it 
as  an  axiom.  The  public  library,  indeed,  is  the  only 
formal  educational  influence  that  is  exerted  through 
life.  It  is  this  view  of  the  library  that  is  at  the  base  of 
what  we  have  already  named  the  modern  library  idea — 
the  belief  that  the  library  should  take  its  entire  public 
as  its  clientele  and  not  simply  that  part  of  it  which 
voluntarily  seeks  it  out. 

But  quite  aside  from  its  educational  functions,  there 
are  other  good  reasons  why  the  library  should  receive 

25 


THE    LIBRARY   AND    THE    STATE 

public  support.  It  is  good  public  policy  to  encourage 
healthful  and  innocent  forms  of  recreation;  hence  mu- 
nicipal parks  and  playgrounds.  These  offer  physical 
recreation;  the  library  furnishes  intellectual  entertain- 
ment— surely  no  less  desirable  and  legitimate. 

Besides  this,  the  American  public  has  always  shown 
itself  ready  to  take  over  as  a  public  charge  any  form  of 
activity  that  it  is  convinced  may  be  carried  on  better 
in  this  way  than  by  private  agencies.  It  is  not  at  all 
afraid  of  being  ' '  socialistic, ' '  and  it  refuses  to  assent  to 
general  principles;  each  case  must  be  considered  by 
itself.  Private  ownership  and  operation,  in  the  case  of 
general  libraries,  has  been  tried  and  found  wanting, 
except  for  certain  uses  which  the  subscription  library 
will  probably  always  fill.  In  most  cases,  it  has  been 
found  profitable  to  substitute  either  public  ownership 
and  operation,  public  ownership  and  support  with  semi- 
private  operation,  or  private  ownership  and  operation 
with  public  support  and  control,  as  has  been  specified 
above. 

It  has  been  said  that  municipal  appropriations  for 
library  support  are  made  by  authorization  of  the  state. 
Many  states  of  the  Union  have  special  library  laws, 
which,  besides  specifying  the  conditions  of  such  appro- 
priation, provide  also  for  a  measure  of  state  aid,  au- 
thorize state  inspection  and  control,  and  arrange  for 
certain  forms  of  library  activity  to  be  carried  on  under 
the  state.  These  are  usually  under  the  general  super- 
vision of  a  library  commission,  or  committee,  or  its 
equivalent,  whose  secretary  is  a  salaried  official  and 
whose  headquarters  are  at  the  state  capital.  State  aid, 
in  money,  is  usually  conditioned  on  the  appropriation 
by  the  library  trustees  of  an  equal  sum,  and  is  often  not 

26 


STATE     LIBRARY   COMMISSIONS 

limited  to  municipally  owned  or  supported  institutions. 
It  is  sometimes  required  that  the  money  be  expended 
for  books,  in  which  case  the  titles  must  usually  be  ap- 
proved by  the  commission. 

Among  other  activities  carried  on  under  the  super- 
vision of  such  commissions  are  the  management  of  sys- 
tems of  traveling  libraries,  the  collection  and  dissemi- 
nation of  information  regarding  the  libraries  of  the 
state,  the  encouragement  of  library  extension  by  means 
of  paid  organizers,  the  maintenance  of  schools,  classes, 
or  ''  institutes  "  for  library  instruction,  the  publication 
of  lists  of  books  and  other  library  aids,  often  in  the 
form  of  a  bulletin  sent  regularly  to  all  libraries  in  the 
state,  and  the  regular  inspection  of  all  libraries,  with  a 
report  on  their  condition. 

The  members  of  such  commissions  have  taken  a  very 
serious  view  of  their  duties  and  powers,  and  it  may  be 
expected  that  state  influence  over  library  growth  and 
work  will  increase  in  the  future.  A  ''  League  of  Li- 
brary Commissions  **  has  been  formed,  which  is  affili- 
ated with  the  American  Library  Association.  The 
members  of  the  state  commissions  are  librarians,  edu- 
cators, literary  men,  or  library  trustees  and  other  in- 
terested business  men.  Indications  of  the  increasing 
influence  of  the  state  in  library  matters  are,  for  in- 
stance, the  part  played  by  the  State  library  authorities 
in  the  establishment  and  control  of  the  county  library 
system  in  California  and  to  a  lesser  degree  in  other 
states.  Some  15  states  now  have  laws  allowing  the  estab- 
lishment of  county  libraries  and  the  possibilities  are 
great,  especially  in  rural  communities.  Contract  with 
a  city  library  for  the  extension  of  its  service  to  the 
county  is  usually  allowed.     There  was  county  library 

27 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  STATE 

legislation  in  Indiana  in  1816,  but  nothing  noteworthy 
was  done  until  much  later.  The  library  of  Washing- 
ton County,  Md.,  whose  ''book  wagon"  has  made  it 
famous,  was  established  April  9,  1898,  and  public  sup- 
port was  authorized  by  legislation  on  April  14.  The 
Ohio  county-library  legislation  followed  on  April  26, 
of  the  same  year,  and  the  work  was  taken  up  by  Ham- 
ilton and  Van  Wert  counties  on  a  large  scale. 

Further  increase  of  state  influence  appears  in  at- 
tempts to  require  state  license  for  librarians  as  well  as 
teachers,  none  of  which  has  yet  been  successful. 

These  activities,  as  well  as  those  of  individual  li- 
braries, in  enlarging  their  field  of  work,  are  sometimes 
termed  collectively  "Library  extension." 

One  of  the  earliest  and  most  useful  functions  of  a 
commission  was  the  distribution  of  books  throughout 
the  state.  Traveling  libraries  are  also  operated  by  other 
than  state  agencies  and  are  discussed  in  another  chapter. 

Instead  of  regarding  with  jealousy  the  assumption 
by  the  state  of  powers  like  these,  librarians  generally 
welcome  the  increase  of  systematic  work  fostered  by 
state  aid  and  control.  They  are  active  everywhere  in 
efforts  to  establish  state  commissions,  where  such  do  not 
exist,  and  the  opponents  of  their  efl'orts  are  usually  per- 
sons unfamiliar  with  the  modern  library  movement,  or 
politicians  who  see  in  such  action  no  benefit  to  them- 
selves. In  some  cases,  where  legislatures  have  refused 
to  enact  a  proper  state  library  law,  state  library  asso- 
ciations, voluntary  bodies  of  librarians,  have  agreed  to 
initiate  and  carry  on,  at  their  own  expense,  some  of  the 
activities  usually  supervised  and  financed  by  the  state. 

This  increasing  exercise  of  state  library  control  is 
especially  interesting  at  a  time  when,  in  political  mat- 

28 


FEDERAL    RELATIONS 

ters,  the  influence  of  the  state  seems  to  be  shrinking 
while  that  of  the  Federal  Government  has  been  swelling 
— has  indeed,  according  to  some,  been  swollen  almost 
beyond  its  constitutional  limits.  In  the  case  of  libraries, 
save  alone  for  the  activities  of  the  Library  of  Congress, 
those  of  the  general  government  have  been  almost  van- 
ishingly  small.  Certain  libraries,  to  be  sure,  are  desig- 
nated by  the  members  of  Congress  in  their  districts  as 
depositaries  of  public  documents,  and  the  Superin- 
tendent of  documents  has  endeavored,  of  late  years,  to 
establish  closer  relations  with  these  and  other  libraries, 
that  such  documents  may  be  more  efficiently  preserved 
and  used.  Under  the  present  law,  however,  a  member 
of  Congress  may  arbitrarily  and  suddenly  change  any 
one  of  his  designated  depositaries;  and  this  has  some- 
times been  done  quite  to  the  public  disadvantage  and 
without  apparent  remedy.  The  Bureau  of  Education, 
upon  occasion,  has  collected  and  published  valuable 
statistics  of  libraries.  The  chief  bond,  however,  be- 
tween the  Government  at  Washington  and  libraries 
throughout  the  country  is  the  Library  of  Congress,  un- 
der the  broad  interpretation  of  the  laws  regulating  its 
work,  made  by  Dr.  Putnam,  the  present  librarian,  who 
has  endeavored  to  make  the  institution  in  fact  what  it 
should  be  in  name — the  National  Library. 

The  library  now  prints  catalogue  cards  for  all  cur- 
rent deposits  under  the  copyright  law — that  is,  for  all 
American  copyrighted  publications — as  well  as  for  se- 
lected foreign  purchases  and  some  of  the  most  important 
books  already  on  the  shelves.  It  duplicates  these  cards 
freely  and  sells  them  at  cost,  as  public  documents,  to  all 
libraries  that  desire  to  use  them,  thus  acting  as  a  great 
central  cataloguing  bureau  for  the  whole  country.     It 

29 


THE    LIBRARY   AND    THE    STATE 

also  occasionally  prmts  and  distributes  works  of  national, 
importance,  such  as  the  American  Library  Association 
catalogue  of  best  books,  which  would  otherwise  probably 
not  see  the  light.  These  activities,  together  with  its  lib- 
eral policy  of  inter-library  loans  and  the  willingness  of 
its  staff  to  give  library  information,  have  brought  it  into 
very  close  touch  with  the  libraries  of  the  various  states. 

Besides  the  laws  that  directly  affect  libraries,  there 
are  others,  both  state  and  Federal,  that  do  so  indirectly. 
In  the  case  of  Federal  statutes,  libraries  are  specially  in- 
terested in  those  that  regulate  the  tariff,  copyright,  and 
postage.  The  connection  of  the  tariff  and  copyright 
with  the  maintenance  of  libraries  is  treated  in  Chapter 
XI,  but  it  may  be  noted  that  the  interest  of  librarians 
in  the  copyright  question  has  been  officially  recognized 
by  the  Federal  Government  by  asking  the  American  Li- 
brary Association  to  take  part,  through  delegates,  in  the 
Copyright  Conference  of  1906-7,  called  by  the  Librarian 
of  Congress  at  the  suggestion  of  the  congressional  com- 
mittees having  the  matter  in  charge,  to  formulate  a  com- 
prehensive copyright  law.  The  bill  as  thus  framed  and 
subsequently  modified  became  a  law  in  1909. 

Vigorous  attempts  were  made  for  some  time  to  have 
the  privileges  of  second-class  postage  extended  to  li- 
brary books,  with  the  idea  that  inter-library  loans  and 
also  a  mail-order  use  of  free  libraries  would  thereby  be 
fostered.  These  efforts  met  with  no  success,  largely 
through  the  feeling  that  the  Post  Office  was  already 
transmitting  too  much  bulky  mail  matter  at  a  loss. 
Books  for  the  blind  were  made  free  to  or  from  libraries 
in  1904,  although,  owing  to  the  limitation  of  v^^eight  ob- 
served in  the  carrier  service  and  the  inordinate  bulk  of 
most  of  these  books,  they  could  not  be  delivered  at  the 

30 


LIBRA^RY  POSTAGE 

homes  of  those  who  needed  them.  The  present  parcel- 
post  was  established  in  1913,  and  in  1914  its  provisions 
were  extended  to  books,  thereby  greatly  lowering  the 
postal  rates  for  short  distances,  though  actually  rais- 
ing them  for  long  ones,  owing  to  the  workings  of  the 
''zone''  system.  Arrangements  were  made  at  once  by 
many  libraries  for  sending  books  to  their  readers  by 
post.  A  deposit  is  usually  required,  owing  to  the  rule 
that  parcels  may  not  be  sent  "collect."  This  require- 
ment has  hitherto  somewhat  limited  the  usefulness  of 
parcel-post  distribution.  Books  so  sent  are  delivered  at 
the  house  door,  but  must  be  returned  at  the  library  or 
posted  in  a  parcel-box.  Books  for  the  blind,  sent  free 
by  mail,  are  now  also  classed  as  parcels  and  delivered 
at  the  house.  Of  12,819  books  for  the  blind  circulated 
in  New  York  in  1908,  8,558  were  sent  free  by  mail. 

Were  the  postage  on  library  books  greatly  reduced, 
probably  the  mechanism  of  library  distribution  would 
undergo  a  change  resembling  that  indicated  by  the 
above  figures.  This  would  mean  not  only  a  change  of 
methods,  but  also  a  burden  on  the  local  mail.  Whether 
this  would  be  to  the  public  advantage  may  be  doubted. 

Existing  postal  regulations  exclude  from  the  mails 
certain  library  forms  that  have  long  passed  through 
them  without  causing  question,  and  that  still  continue 
to  do  so  in  a  majority  of  cases.  The  Post  Office  De- 
partment passes  only  on  specific  cases  that  have  been 
brought  to  its  attention,  but  its  decisions  have  been  ad- 
verse to  the  libraries  when  made.  The  law  that  is  held 
to  be  violated  is  that  forbidding  duns  or  threats  on 
postal  cards.  The  usual  form  of  notice  reminding  a  de- 
linquent borrower  that  he  has  incurred  a  fine  or  in- 
forming him  that  a  fine  will  be  imposed  in  cases  of  non- 
31 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  STATE 

return  of  a  book,  may  be  excluded  from  the  mails,  and 
has  been  so  excluded  by  the  authorities  when  their  at- 
tention has  been  called  to  it.  In  such  cases  a  form  sim- 
ply calling  the  delinquent's  attention  to  the  rules  of  the 
library  as  printed  on  the  book  pocket,  on  a  book  plate, 
or  elsewhere,  has  been  approved  by  the  postal  authorities 
as  legal.  As  regards  the  ordinary  laws  of  the  vstate,  it  is 
probable  that  libraries  often  unconsciously  contravene 
them,  and  are  allowed  to  continue  to  do  so,  simply  be- 
cause no  one  cares  to  interfere.  In  a  case  that  occurred 
a  few  years  ago,  the  regulations  of  a  library  whose  con- 
nection with  its  municipality  was  close  were  declared  by 
the  city's  legal  adviser  to  be  totally  inoperative  because 
they  had  not  been  enacted  by  the  municipal  legislative 
body.  Steps,  of  course,  were  taken  to  have  them  so  en- 
acted at  once,  but  fines  incurred  previous  to  this  enact- 
ment were  duly  charged  and  paid,  although  a  protest 
would  doubtless  have  been  sustained  had  it  been  made. 
This  state  of  things  may  now  exist  in  other  municipalities. 

Again,  the  legal  responsibility  of  guarantors  has 
never  been  exactly  defined.  Doubtless  they  could  be 
sued  at  law  for  books  damaged  or  not  returned  by  their 
proteges,  and  this  possibility  is  often  used  to  frighten 
them  into  payment;  but  suit  for  such  small  amounts 
would  hardly  be  brought  by  the  library. 

Legal  questions  may  also  arise  frequently  with  rela- 
tion to  the  enforcement  of  discipline — for  instance,  the 
ejection  of  a  reader  who  is  deemed  to  be  disorderly,  and 
his  subsequent  claim  that  it  was  accomplished  with  un- 
due violence;  or  the  exclusion  of  readers  from  library 
privileges  on  account  of  noncompliance  with  some  regu- 
lation. It  is  certainly  well  for  a  librarian  to  be  familiar 
with  his  legal  rights  and  duties  in  such  cases,  so  that 

32 


THE    LIBRARY    AND    THE    LAW 

he  may  act  quickly  and  decisively.  In  case  the  matter 
goes  so  far  as  an  arrest,  either  for  disorder  or  for  theft 
or  mutilation  of  books,  it  is  also  necessary  for  him  to 
have  some  elementary  knowledge  of  the  rules  of  evi- 
dence. Many  a  vandal  has  escaped  punishment  for  lack 
of  evidence  which  library  assistants  have  been  in  a  posi- 
tion to  obtain,  and  which  they  have  failed  to  obtain  sim- 
ply through  ignorance.  A  magistrate  will  usually  hold 
a  person  for  trial  only  when  there  is  evidence  or,  at  any 
rate,  prospect  of  obtaining  evidence  that  will  induce  a 
jury  to  convict.  Some  magistrates  also,  for  reasons  that 
are  not  very  clear,  appear  to  exercise  special  leniency  in 
the  case  of  offenders  against  libraries.  A  man  who  takes 
books  from  the  shelves  and  succeeds  in  getting  them  into 
the  street  before  he  is  caught  is  released  at  once  when 
he  pleads  that  he  intended  to  have  them  charged,  but 
forgot  to  do  so.  Another,  detected  by  a  custodian  when 
removing  valuable  plates  from  a  book,  is  allowed  to  go 
free  because  the  witness  did  not  see  him  in  the  precise 
act  of  detaching  the  leaves. 

Of  course,  as  the  trustees  of  valuable  property,  both 
in  real  estate  and  securities,  the  library  authorities  may 
become  involved  in  litigation  of  almost  all  kinds.  It 
may  be  even  necessary  for  the  trustees  to  obtain  special 
legislation  to  override  the  conditions  of  bequests  when 
such  have  become  burdensome  through  unforeseen  con- 
tingencies, or  to  enable  consolidation  with  other  bodies, 
to  the  public  advantage.  The  board  of  trustees  of  a 
large  library  frequently  includes  a  law  committee  among 
its  standing  committees  to  take  care  of  such  business  as 
this.  The  conditions  of  such  legal  business,  however, 
are  in  no  wise  different  from  those  affecting  other  cor- 
porations and  need  no  special  treatment  here. 

33 


<'  i 


CHAPTEK   IV 

THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  l^UBJAC 

If  the  modern  public  library  haf  any  reason,  for 
being,  and  particularly  if  it  has  any  reason  for  demand- 
ing public  support,  this  lies  in  its  continued  use:Julness 
to  the  public.  Such  usefulness  is  the  goal  at  wl^ich  it 
must  aim,  and  the  test  by  which  each  of  its  methMs  and 
results  must  be  judged.  Ease  and  smoothness  of  admin- 
istration, though  highly  desirable,  is  so  wholly  because 
it  may  further  public  service  or  lessen  public  expense; 
and  any  regulation  that  makes  for  a  smoother  running 
of  the  library  machinery  while  it  lessens  the  amount  of 
good  that  the  public  can  get  from  the  library,  or  the 
speed  or  ease  with  which  that  good  may  be  obtained,  is 
a  bad  regulation. 

There  have  been  many  such  regulations  in  libraries, 
but  they  are  being  eliminated.  Where  they  remain  it  is 
due  usually  to  a  legitimate  difference  of  opinion  on  the 
score  of  their  public  usefulness.  The  ordinary  library 
regulations,  which  often  appear  to  the  individual  user 
unduly  restrictive,  are  so  only  because  it  is  necessary  by 
their  means  to  guard  the  interests  of  the  public  as  a 
whole.  It  may,  for  instance,  be  to  the  interest  of  the 
individual  user  that  he  should  take  out  an  unlimited 
number  of  books  and  keep  them  for  an  indefinite  time; 
but  the  rights  of  other  users  require  that  both  number 
and  time  should  be  restricted. 

34 


REGISTRATION 

At  the  outset  the  prospective  user  of  the  library  is 
called  upon  to  show  that  he  is  a  proper  person  to  take 
out  books.  What  this  means  depends  somewhat  on  the 
regulations  of  the  library.    If  its  use  is  restricted  to  resi- 


No.. 


an  inhabitant  of  the  City  of  NewYorki 
Residing  at-<^ -^ ,-.' r.- 


■Occupation 
Grade 


hereby  apply  for  the  right  to  use  the  New  york  Public  Library, 
oMuhlenberg  Branch,  209  West  23rd  Street,  and  promise  to  obey  all 
its  rules,  and  give  iaunedlatq  notice  at  tho  library  ofan^  change  of 


residence. 


Reference's  Name- 


R«f«ra  to-«M  evw. 


Business  Address- 
Business — 


Application  for  Privilege  of  Drawing  Books,  New  York 
Public  Library. 


dents,  he  must  show  that  he  is  a  resident;  if  to  persons 
above  a  certain  a«^e,  that  he  possesses  this  age.  If  a  cer- 
tificate of  character  or  a  guaranty  against  loss  of  books 
is  required,  this  must  be  given.  A  blank  form  of  appli- 
4  35 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  PUBLIC 

cation,  of  proper  size  to  be  conveniently  filed,  is  fur- 
nished by  the  library,  and  in  case  time  is  required  to 
obtain  the  necessary  information  or  certification,  and  to 
verify  it,  this  period  of  time  must,  of  course,  elapse 
before  books  can  be  drawn.  This  is  a  hardship  in  many 
cases,  and  the  tendency  is  to  cut  down  requirements  for 
use  as  far  as  possible.  Guaranty  is  generally  useful 
only  because  it  implies  a  certification  of  character;  as 


TNI»  AMtUCATION  MUBT  BC  riUCa  OUT  IN  INK.  «MB  «MMOVC».  BCrOBB  CABO  IS  ISSWBB. 


(Do  not  write  here.) 

i,  the  undersigned,  J^pply  ior  a  reader  s  card  in  the  St.  Louis  Public 
(Free)  Libra7. 

iam  a  resident  of  the  city, 
am  .a  taxpayer  in  the  city 
have  permanent  employment  in  the  city, 
and  hereby  agree  to. comply -with  all  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the 
Uibrary,  to  make  good  any  loss  or  injury  sustained' by  it  through  issuing 
a'card  entitling  me  to  draw  books,,and  TO  GIVE  IMMEDIATE  NOTICE 
OF  CHANGE  OF  RESIDENCE.  ' 

Name  (in  Ink) 

Residence     ■ .  ■  ■  .j. 

Occupattoo ■     i  ■ 

Place  of  Buslnets  «.; — , — .  ■  ■  ■ 


Application  for  Privilege  of  Drawing  Books, 
St.  Louis  Public  Library. 


for  the  actual  payment  by  guarantors  for  lost  books,  it 
is  practically  a  voluntary  matter,  almost  impossible  of 
enforcement.  Where  it  has  been  retained,  as  in  some 
large  cities,  this  is  largely  for  its  value  as  a  moral  obli- 
gation. Some  libraries  even  drop  the  requirement  of  a 
character  certificate  on  any  good  evidence  that  appli- 
cant is  a  responsible  person,  the  presence  of  his  name  in 
a  city  directory  being  generally  accepted.  Other  libra- 
ries that  have  retained  the  requirement  of  guaranty  in 

36 


ACTUAL  USERS 

its  extreme  form  may  allow  the  freest  exception  where  \ 
an  applicant  is  known  to  the  librarian  personally  or  by  ^ 
reputation.  There  is  little  danger  now  that  a  man  or 
woman  of  national  reputation  will  be  required  to  obtain 
a  certificate  of  character  from  the  corner  grocer  before 
being  privileged  to  draw  books,  as  used  to  happen  not  in- 
frequently in  the  earlier  and  stricter  days.  Of  course, 
requirements  of  this  kind  will  be  less  in  a  small  place 
where  the  users  are  all  known  to  the  librarian ;  and  in  a 
rural  community  the  ceremony  of  application  need  be 
scarcely  more  than  the  signing  of  the  name  on  a  blank 
form,  which,  when  filed,  becomes  part  of  the  official  list 
of  users.  In  many  libraries  a  second  list  is  kept,  the 
units  in  one  being  filed  alphabetically  and  in  the  other 
chronologically — that  is,  by  the  serial  numbers  assigned 
to  them  as  accepted.  The  chronological  entry  may  be  in 
a  registration  book.  When  the  serial  numbers  are  used 
for  charging,  the  advantages  of  such  a  list  are  obvious. 
A  library  is  often  asked,  and  sometimes  required  to 
report  officially,  about  its  '*  actual  number  of  users.'' 
This  phrase  requires  definition.  A  line  of  some  sort 
must  be  drawn  between  those  who  have  permanently 
ceased  to  use  the  library  and  those  who  intend  to  use  it 
again.  A  man  who  returned  his  book  yesterday  and 
who  intends  to  take  out  another  to-morrow  is  surely  an 
*'  actual  "  or  ''  present  "  user  as  truly  as  he  who  is 
now  charged  with  a  book.  As  it  is  impossible  to  ascer- 
tain when  a  former  borrower  intends  to  take  out  his 
next  book,  or  whether  he  will  carry  out  that  intention,  a 
time  limit  must  be  assigned,  and  this  is  necessarily  arbi- 
trary. Usually  the  time  is  as  great  as  a  year — that  is,  a 
person  who  drew  out  a  book  as  recently  as  364  days 
ago  is  still  counted  as  an  actual  user,  whereas  if  the  last 

37 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  PUBLIC 

book  was  charged  366  days  ago  his  use  is  regarded  as 
lapsed. 

Instead  of  counting  the  actual  borrowing  of  a  book, 
however,  as  the  sole  evidence  of  use,  it  is  customary  to 
require  renewal  of  the  application  at  regular  intervals — 
say  one  to  three  years — and  to  count  all  persons  who 
hold  cards  as  ' '  actual  ' '  users  of  the  library.  When  re- 
newal is  not  made  at  the  proper  time,  this  is  taken  as 
evidence  that  the  user  intends  to  take  out  no  more  books. 
This  is  all  very  arbitrary,  and  the  statistics  of  different 
libraries  vary  so  much  that  they  are  hardly  comparable. 
It  is  probably  safe  to  assume  that  the  number  of  books 
out  at  any  one  moment  is  roughly  proportional  to  the 
number  of  present  users,  but  so  few  libraries  report  on 
this  that,  here  again,  there  is  no  basis  for  comparison. 

Having  been  properly  registered,  the  intending  user 
receives  an  evidence  of  the  fact — usually  a  card — and 
proceeds  to  select  his  book.  At  this  point  we  find  all 
lending  libraries  divided  into  two  classes — "  closed- 
shelf  "  and  ''  open-shelf,"  or  ''  free-access  "  libraries. 
Practically  all  small  and  moderate-sized  American  libra- 
ries are  now  * '  open-shelf, ' '  which  means  that  the  user  is 
allowed  to  go  personally  to  the  shelves  and  select  his 
book,  whereas  in  a  "  closed-shelf  ' '  library  he  makes  the 
selection  by  consulting  a  catalogue,  fills  out  a  *'  call 
slip,"  and  presents  it  at  the  desk  to  an  attendant,  who 
gets  the  book.  The  compromise  by  which  the  user, 
though  not  admitted  to  the  shelves,  has  access  to  an 
*'  indicator,"  which  shows  whether  each  volume  is  in  or 
out,  and  also  serves  as  a  mechanism  for  charging  it,  is 
not  used  in  the  United  States,  though  familiar  in  Eng- 
lish public  libraries.  Open  access,  though  a  suspected 
and  doubted  experiment  fifteen  years  ago,  is  now  prac- 

38 


OPEN    SHELF 

tically  universal  in  America  in  all  but  large  city  libra- 
ries, and  even  in  these  it  is  usual  to  find  an  open-shelf 
room  containing  many  thousands  of  volumes. 

The  advantagp  of  nppn  aor^pss  to  the  user  scarcely 
needs  mention  or  analysis.  The  objections  are  two :  first, 
increased  opportunity  for  theft,  and,  second,  increased 
handling,  which  wears  out  the  books  more  quickly  and 
disarranges  them  on  the  shelves,  requiring  rearrange- 
ment at  more  or  less  frequent  intervals.  The  latter  ob- 
jection is  entirely  from  the  *'  ease-of-administration  '* 
standpoint,  and  may  be  passed  over,  in  accordance  with 
the  general  principle  enunciated  at  the  beginning  of  this 
chapter.  So  far  as  the  former  objection  (increase  of 
theft)  is  of  this  character,  it,  too,  may  be  neglected;  but 
it  is  urged  that  to  give  to  the  public  opportunity  for 
undetected  theft  is  to  demoralize  it.  That  such  oppor- 
tunity exists  is  shown  by  the  advantage  that  is  taken  of 
it.  From  a  paper  on  the  subject  by  Miss  Isabel  Ely 
Lord,  librarian  of  the  Pratt  Institute  Free  Library, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  read  at  the  1908  conference  of  the 
American  Library  Association,  it  appears  that  losses  in 
cities  of  more  than  300,000  inhabitants  ranges,  in  open- 
shelf  libraries,  from  7  books  in  every  10,000  circulated 
to  39  books  for  every  10,000  circulated.  ^'  The  largest 
cities  vary  from  9  to  17  in  every  10,000  circulated.  In 
the  closed-shelf  libraries  of  this  group  the  loss  ranges 
from  1  to  9  volumes  in  every  10,000  circulated. 

**  In  cities  between  100,000  to  300,000  the  open-shelf 
libraries  lose  from  8  to  42  in  every  10,000.  Denver,  in 
its  period  of  open  shelves,  lost  134  volumes  to  every 
10,000 —  ...  so  far  as  I  know,  the  largest  propor- 
tionate loss  sustained  by  any  library.  In  the  closed-shelf 
libraries  of  the  same  group  the  loss  ranges  from  2  in 

39 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  PUBLIC 

every  100,000,  which  is  the  proud  record  of  Fall  River, 
to  53  in  every  10,000 — a  larger  loss  than  that  of  any 
open-shelf  library  to-day,  though  not  equaling  that  of 
Denver,  as  stated. 

''  In  the  third  group  of  cities,  from  25,000  to  100,- 
000,  the  open-shelf  loss  ranges  from  6  to  48  in  every 
10,000.  In  the  closed-shelf  library  of  this  group  the 
loss,  including  that  of  the  children's  room,  is  5  in  every 
10,000. 

**  In  the  last  group  of  small  communities  (under 
25,000)  the  loss  ranges  from  Fairhaven's  statement 
that  perhaps  two  books  are  definitely  missing,  but 
they  expect  to  find  them,  through  Gloversville 's  loss 
of  two  to  every  100,000  circulated  up  to  nine  in  every 
10,000." 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  are  losses  even  in  closed- 
shelf  libraries,  but  far  too  many  in  the  majority  of  both 
types. 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  point  regarding 
increased  opportunity  given  by  free  access  for  unde- 
tected theft,  so  far  as  it  goes,  is  well  taken.  It  is  simply 
incumbent  on  the  library  authorities  to  decide  whether 
the  incitement  to  theft  is  so  great  as  to  outweigh  the 
advantages  of  the  plan  to  the  public.  This  question,  it 
would  appear,  has,  in  America  at  least,  been  generally 
decided  in  the  negative;  and  in  so  deciding  libraries 
have  but  followed  the  lead  of  other  public  institutions, 
such  as  parks,  where  abuse  of  free  access  to  flowers  and 
grass  has  not  been  deemed  a  sufficient  reason  for  exclu- 
sion of  the  public.  The  losses  must,  of  course,  be 
watched  closely  by  means  of  accurate  inventories,  taken 
at  unusually  brief  intervals,  if  necessary,  and  the  ut- 
most effort  must  be  made  to  detect  and  punish  theft. 

40 


SPECIAL    CARDS 

Where  books  of  a  special  size,  or  a  particular  class,  are 
taken,  these  require  special  watching,  and  it  may  become 
necessary  to  place  them  on  closed  shelves,  either  tempo- 
rarily or  permanently. 

Having  selected  his  book  or  books,  the  user  is  met 
by  another  restriction.  He  is  allov^red  to  draw  only  a  \ 
limited  number  of  books  at  one  time.  The  tendency  in  ' 
this  regard,  however,  is  now  very  marked  in  the  di- 
rection of  liberality,  especially  wath  non-fiction.  It  has 
long  been  common  to  allow  two  books  at  once,  pro- 
vided only  one  is  a  work  of  fiction.  In  libraries  where 
current  periodicals  are  circulated,  one  of  these  may  be 
allowed  in  addition.  The  allowance  of  two  books, 
known  as  the  "two-book  system,"  originated  in  an  ef- 
fort to  stimulate  the  circulation  of  non-fiction,  and 
previous  to  its  general  adoption,  about  1895,  restriction 
to  a  single  book  was  quite  customary.  Where  a  work  is 
in  several  volumes,  many  libraries  allow  these  to  be 
counted  as  one.  The  issue  of  special  cards,  with  an 
extension  of  both  the  numerical  and  time  limits,  is 
frequently  made.  An  increasing  number  of  libraries 
are  now  dropping  the  special  card  and  giving  its  privi- 
leges to  the  ordinary  cardholder,  sometimes  even  in 
the  case  of  fiction.  Another  exception  is  now  some- 
times made  in  cases  of  persons  leaving  the  city  for 
vacation,  who  are  allowed  to  draw  a  number  of  books 
at  once  and  retain  them  not  later  than  a  specified  date. 

Having  chosen  his  books,  subject  to  these  restrictions, 
the  user  next  presents  theiVi  at  the  desk  to  be  charged. 
This  is  a  more  or  less  elaborate  process,  according  to  the 
uses  intended  to  be  served  by  it.  A  charging  system 
may  be  so  planned  as  to  give  information,  at  any  time, 
regarding  all  or  part  of  the  following  facts: 

41 


THE    LIBRARY   AND    THE    PUBLIC 

(1)  The  titles  of  the  books  withdrawn  on  a  given 
day,  with  the  card  holder  who  drew  each. 

(2)  The  books  due  on  a  given  day,  with  the  holder 
of  each. 

(3)  The  whereabouts  of  a  specified  book. 

(4)  The  books  in  the  possession  of  a  specified  holder, 
with  the  date  on  which  each  is  due. 

The  number  of  books  drawn  in  one  day  must  be 
known  if  record  of  the  circulation  is  to  be  kept  day  by 
day,  as  is  usual.  If  the  circulation  is  to  be  reported  by 
classes,  the  daily  number  given  out  in  each  class  must 
also  be  known.  The  person  who  drew  each  book  must  be 
known,  so  that  he  may  be  traced  if  he  fails  to  return  the 
book  when  due.  The  books  in  a  given  person's  posses- 
sion, with  the  dates  of  withdrawal,  must  be  known  by  that 
person  that  he  may  return  them  when  due.  Knowledge  of 
the  whereabouts  of  a  specified  book  is  valuable  in  tracing 
that  book,  as  at  inventory.  These  items  of  information 
are  obtainable  in  practically  all  charging  systems,  the 
only  differences  being  that  in  some  they  require  search, 
while  in  others  they  may  be  found  at  once,  as  in  a  dic- 
tionary or  index.  Charging  systems  now  in  general  use 
in  American  public  libraries  are  of  four  types : 

(1)  The  ledger  system. 

(2)  The  one-card  system. 

(3)  The  two-card  system. 

(4)  The  Browne  system. 

The  ledger  system,  still  used  in  old  or  small  institu- 
tions, is  the  simplest  and  oldest  of  systems.  Its  mech- 
anism is  almost  nil,  but  it  furnishes  no  ready  answer  to 
the  questions  specified  above,  except  in  case  the  circula- 
tion is  extremely  small,  and  then  only  after  some  search. 
In  this  system  an  account  is  opened  with  every  user  in 

42 


CHARGING    SYSTEMS 

an  ordinary  ledger,  and  as  he  takes  out  a  book  the  title 
and  the  date  of  withdrawal  are  written  under  his  name 
on  the  page  assigned  to  him.  When  returned,  the  book 
is  discharged  by  crossing  off  the  entry  and  writing  the 
date  of  return. 

This  system  gives  directly  the  number  of  books  in 
each  holder's  possession,  with  date  of  lending.  To  ob- 
tain the  books  given  out,  or  due,  on  a  given  day,  or  the 
holder  of  a  specified  book,  it  would  be  necessary  to  run 
through  the  entire  ledger,  and  this  method  of  charging 
is  not  used  when  these  items  are  frequently  required. 
Instead  of  charging  under  the  user 's  name,  the  book  title 
or  the  date  may  be  used  as  a  heading,  but  without  gain 
in  elasticity. 

If  each  ledger  page  is  replaced  by  a  card,  we  have  a 
simple  one-card  charging  system.  The  cards  may  be  filed 
by  the  date  of  withdrawal  of  the  last  book,  in  which  case 
the  titles  withdrawn,  or  due,  on  a  specified  day  are 
quickly  accessible,  without  search.  Abbreviations  are 
usually  employed — for  the  book,  its  accession  number, 
or  call  number;  for  the  user,  his  registration  number. 
The  full  title  of  the  book  and  the  user's  name  and  ad- 
dress may  be  found  from  these  by  reference  to  the  proper 
lists.  If  all  books  are  taken  out  for  the  same  period,  the 
arrangement  of  cards  by  date  of  withdrawal  is  at  the 
same  time  an  arrangement  by  the  date  due ;  if  not,  a  re- 
arrangement is  necessary  when  the  book  becomes  over- 
due. The  package  of  cards,  when  first  overdue,  fur- 
nishes a  list  of  persons  to  whom  notices  are  to  be  sent. 
In  a  one-card  system  of  this  kind,  if  the  cards  are  filed 
by  date,  the  user,  when  he  returns  the  book,  must  re- 
member the  date  when  the  book  was  taken  out ;  otherwise 
the  record  card  can  be  found  only  by  search.    He  must 

43 


THE    LIBRARY   AND    THE    PUBLIC 

also  know  his  registration  number  to  avoid  the  necessity 
of  looking  it  up  in  the  list.  If  the  cards  are  filed  alpha- 
betically by  names  or  numerically  by  registration  num- 
bers, no  act  of  memory  is  necessary,  but  the  advantages 
over  the  ledger  system  are  not  great. 


NOT  TRANSFERABLE, 

'Good  only  until 

No. 


Name- 


Address  — 

New  York  Public  Library 

CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 

MUHLENBERG  BRANCH 

209  West  23rd  Street 


Thb  Card  most  always  be  presented  when  takisf 
mt,  raoewing  vr  retarniDg  a  book. 

Tbe  proper  holder  is  in  all  cases  responsible  for 
'^ookt  drawn  hj  means  of  this  Card,  and  if  LOST  one 
veek  mast  elapse,  after  notice  has  been  eiren  of  its 
kaa,  before  It  can  be  replaced.  Books  may  he  renewed 
Pj  P9etal  card  by  giving  nnmbcr  or  name  of  book, 
■amber  of  card  and  date  when  book  wot  token  oat. 

NOTICE.— Borrowers  may  tuke  tv  o  looks  at  (he 
■MM  time,  provided  that  not  more  thfn  one  of  these 
■hall  be  •  work  of  fiction,  and  that  two  nev  liook* 
•ball  not  be  Uken. 

'K.  B. -Prompt  %otiet  of  ehangt  of  rriidenti  mutt  be 
given  at  theLibrarf,  and  thii  catdmntt  be  inrrtndtrtd 
mht*  Uu  Mder  ceoaes  to  be  «  rttidenL 


fioodonlTniiTll 

}ia(1A^ 

Nnme 

1 

1 

FICTION 

Louied 

Relaned 

Loane<f 

Ketoned 



" 



""- — 

' 

—a:; 











- 

-.-- 

OTHER  WORKS     ] 

Borrower's  Card,  New  York  Public  Library.     (Both  sides.) 


In  a  two-card  system  one  card  (the  "  book  card  '') 
bears  the  title  of  the  book  and  is  devoted  to  a  record  of 
the  persons  who  took  it  out  and  the  dates  of  withdrawal. 
The  other  bears  the  card-holder's  name  and  has  a  record 
of  the  books  taken  out,  with  date  of  withdrawal  of  each 
and  date  of  return,  or  at  least  a  record  of  return.  When 
the  book  is  on  the  shelf  the  book  card  is  kept  in  it,  in  a 

44 


CHARGING   SYSTEMS 

pocket  provided  for  the  purpose;  when  it  is  borrowed, 
after  the  proper  entries  have  been  made  on  both  cards, 
the  borrower's  card  is  placed  in  the  book  pocket  and 
carried  away  with  the  book  by  the  borrower,  while  the 
book  card  is  filed  in  the  library,  as  described  above. 
Thus  both  parties  to  the  transaction  have  a  record  of  it. 
The  book  may  be  discharged,  on  return,  by  crossing  out 


f                                  ST. 

CENTRAL  tIBRARV 
Ml  departmenti  9  ».  M.  -  9  P. 

Sunday  a-9  P.  M. 

No.B 

LOUIS  PUBLIC  LIBRARY                                  \ 

BRANCH  LIBRARIES 
M.                                                                               to  A.  M  -9  P.  M. 
-"»»*M                                                              Sund.,  a.6  P.  M. 

C«r4 

Expires 

Due 

R«turn8(* 

Ouo 

Returned 

Oua 

Retur<i*d 

• 

L 

/ 

QIVE  IMMEPIATC  NOTICE  OF  CHANQg  OF  RESIDgNCC, 


Borrower's  Card  used  in  St.  Louis  Public  Library. 


the  record  on  the  borrower's  card,  or  the  date  of  return 
may  be  entered  on  that  card. 

In  the  type  of  two-card  system  known  as  the  **  New- 
ark "  system  from  its  use  in  the  free  library  at  Newark, 
N.  J.,  an  additional  record  of  the  date  is  made  on  a  flap 
attached  to  the  inside  of  the  book  (or  on  the  pocket). 
This  is  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  replacing  the  cards  in 
the  book  at  the  time  of  discharging,  which  is  often  inad- 
visable in  case  of  a  rush.     The  cards  may  be  replaced 

45 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  PUBLIC 

later,  at  leisure,  the  assistant  being  aided  by  the  record 
on  the  slip. 

The  Browne  system,  though  not  strictly  a  two-card 
system  of  charging,  is  a  modification  of  such  a  system, 
and  is  regarded  by  many  as  an  improvement.  The  bor- 
rower's card  is  replaced  by  a  small  pocket  of  heavy 
paper,  bearing  the  borrower's  name.  The  charging  is 
performed  by  placing  the  book  card  in  this  pocket  and 
filing  both  under  the  proper  date.  Members'  pockets 
not  in  use  are  kept  on  file  in  the  library,  and  each  mem- 
ber is  usually  given  an  identification  check.  The  loose 
pocket  has  been  used  in  other  systems,  in  conjunction 
with  both  book  cards  and  members'  cards,  the  charging 
being  effected  by  simply  placing  the  borrower's  card 
and  that  of  the  book  to  be  charged  to  him  in  the  pocket 
together.  The  Browne  system  simply  consolidates  the 
pocket  and  the  borrower's  card.  Pocket  systems  of  this 
kind  succeed  best  in  small  libraries,  where  they  are  most 
popular. 

It  will  be  noted  that  in  all  these  systems  of  charg- 
ing, one  item  of  information  remains  difficult  to  obtain 
— namely,  the  whereabouts  of  a  given  book.  This  may 
always  be  found,  but  only  by  search,  though  the  labor  of 
searching  is  reduced  by  filing  the  cards  by  call  numbers 
under  the  date.  This  item,  however,  is  not  desired  so  fre- 
quently as  the  others,  and  it  is  properly  subordinated. 

In  charging  the  date,  either  the  date  of  withdrawal 
or  the  date  due  may  be  used.  The  latter  is  simpler  for 
the  borrower,  but  if  different  classes  of  books  may  be 
held  for  different  periods,  as  is  often  the  case,  a  separate 
charging  date  is  then  required  for  each  class,  necessitat- 
ing the  use  of  several  stamps  and  making  confusion 
easily  possible. 

46 


RENEWALS 

The  time  for  which  books  may  be  held  is  quite  com- 
monly two  weeks,  generally  with  the  privilege  of  renewal 
for  another  two  weeks;  but  if  the  book  be  new  or  in 
special  demand,  the  period  may  be  reduced  to  one  week 
and  the  privilege  of  renewal  withheld.     The  length  of 


r 

. 

No.                           -Sp. 

SPECIAL  CARD 

New  York  Public  Library. 

Circulating  Department, 

MUHLENBERG  BRANCH, 

209  West  23rd  St., 

New  York. 

Books  cimrged  upon  this  card  may  be  retain- 
ed for  a  period  of  thirty  day«,  and  may  be 
renewed  monthly  upon  request.  If  books  are 
retained  longer  than  the  specified  time  one  cent 
will  be  charged  for  each  volome  each  day. 

Dnnsnal  demand  for  certain  books  may  render 
ihe  restriction  of  special  privileges  desirable. 

a 

i 

i 

Special  Borrower's  Card,  New  York  Public  Library. 
(Both  sides.) 


time  that  the  book  may  be  held  is,  of  course,  clearly  indi- 
cated on  the  book  in  some  conspicuous  place,  generally 
by  a  stamp.  In  some  libraries  the  period  of  borrowing 
may  be  as  short  as  three  days,  as  with  current  period- 
icals ;  and  in  some,  special  cards  are  issued  to  teachers  or 
students  on  which  books  required  for  study  may  be  held 

47 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  PUBLIC 

for  several  months,  unless  recalled  sooner  in  response  to 
a  demand. 

In  the  case  of  books  desired  by  a  borrower,  but  al- 
ready out,  the  library  has  two  courses  open  to  it.  It 
may  either  require  the  borrower  to  take  his  chance  of 
finding  the  book  when  it  appears  on  the  shelves  after  its 
return,  or  a  waiting  list  of  applicants  for  the  book  may 
be  formed.  The  latter  would  seem  the  fairer  plan,  but 
many  libraries  object  to  it  because  the  book,  on  its 
return,  must  be  held  for  a  day  or  more  while  the  next 
person  on  the  list  is  notified  that  it  awaits  him.  If  sev- 
eral persons  in  succession  fail  to  respond,  as  may  hap- 
pen, the  book  thus  lies  unused  for  several  days,  while 
expectant  readers  are  impatiently  waiting  for  it.  In 
spite  of  this  objection  the  use  of  this  ''  reserve  system  " 
is  widespread,  but  in  some  libraries  a  certain  number  of 
duplicates  are  exempted  from  its  rules  and  are  placed 
on  the  shelves  as  soon  as  they  are  returned.  The  per- 
sons on  the  reserve  list  are  commonly  notified  by  postal 
card,  for  which  it  is  customary  to  charge  a  fee,  payable 
at  the  time  of  the  reserve.  This  fee  is  wrongly  regarded 
by  some  borrowers  as  a  payment  for  the  privilege  of  re- 
serve, and  the  system  is  sometimes  regarded  as  objec- 
tionable for  this  reason ;  but  evidently  the  fee  is  no  part 
of  the  system,  which  consists  merely  in  the  formation  of 
a  waiting  list.  In  the  case  of  persons  who  can  call  fre- 
quently at  the  library  no  postal  notice  is  necessary,  but 
where  the  borrower  desires  to  be  spared  this  trouble,  it 
is  proper  that  the  library  be  put  to  no  expense  in  send- 
ing the  notification. 

The  privilege  of  reserve  is  sometimes  incorrectly  ex- 
tended by  some  assistants  to  books  actually  on  the 
shelves,  which  cannot  be  taken  by  some  particular  bor- 

48 


RESERVES    AND    FINES 

rower  because  he  has  out  already  as  many  books  as  the 
rules  allow.  The  assistant  removes  the  book  from  the 
shelf  and  holds  it  for  the  borrrower  until  one  of  the 
books  charged  on  his  card  is  returned.  This  is  evidently 
the  same  as  allowing  the  borrower  to  have  out  more 
than  the  required  number  of  books,  and  is  indefensible. 

Details  of  the  reserve  system  differ  widely  in  differ- 
ent libraries;  in  some,  for  instance,  reserves  are  taken 
for  new  books  not  yet  purchased;  in  some,  again,  the 
number  of  books  that  may  be  reserved  for  one  person  is 
limited,  while  in  others  there  is  no  limit. 

The  penalty  for  keeping  a  book  overtime  is  com- 
monly a  fine — generally  one  or  two  cents  a  day.  This, 
like  all  fines,  becomes  often  in  effect  a  fee  paid  for 
a  license  to  break  the  rules  in  this  respect.  Fines  are 
often  regarded  by  the  users  of  public  libraries,  as  they 
are  by  tourists  in  motor  cars,  as  a  necessary  accompani- 
ment of  what  they  are  doing.  It  is  certainly  not  desirable 
that  this  view  should  prevail,  but  the  alternative  would 
appear  to  be  the  substitution  of  some  other  penalty,  like 
suspension  from  library  privileges,  with  an  accompany- 
ing loss  of  revenue,  which  in  a  large  library  would  be 
considerable.  In  the  New  York  Public  Library,  for  in- 
stance, with  a  circulation  of  over  10,000,000  in  1916, 
about  $40,000  was  received  in  this  way  alone. 

In  a  discussion  on  this  subject  following  a  paper 
read  by  the  present  writer  at  the  Magnolia  Conference 
of  the  American  Library  Association  several  different 
views  of  the  library  fine  were  developed.  In  opposition 
to  the  position  taken  here  that  it  is,  like  other  fines,  a 
penalty  for  infraction  of  a  rule,  it  was  urged  by  some 
librarians  that  it  is  a  compensation  either  for  damage 
done  to  the  individual  who  is  deprived  of  the  use  of  the 

49 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  PUBLIC 

book  or  to  the  library  itself,  which  is  deprived  of  the 
opportunity  to  benefit  the  community  by  lending  it. 
Some  librarians  even  seemed  inclined  to  sympathize  with 
the  view  that  it  is  simply  a  monetary  satisfaction  to  the 
community  for  an  extended  use  of  the  book,  and  that  the 
damage  inflicted  is  ofl^set  by  the  fact  that  the  fine  en- 
ables the  library  to  purchase  additional  books. 

The  difficulty  of  keeping  up  with  the  popular  de- 
mand for  recent  fiction,  together  with  the  feeling  that 
public  funds  may  not  properly  be  used  for  this  purpose, 
has  led  many  libraries  to  adopt  what  has  been  called  the 
''  pay-duplicate  system,"  or  sometimes  ;the  "  St.  Louis 
plan,"  as  it  was  first  tried  in  the  public  library  of  that 
city.  Besides  the  usual  number  of  free  duplicates  in 
fiction,  a  collection  of  others  is  kept,  for  the  use  of 
which  a  fee  is  charged — either  a  few  cents  per  day  or 
so  much  per  book.  The  money  thus  received  is  applied 
wholly  to  the  maintenance  and  increase  of  the  pay  col- 
lection. The  volumes,  as  the  demand  for  them  flags,  are 
usually  transferred  to  the  free  shelves.  The  objection 
has  been  made  to  this  plan  that  it  places  a  free  public 
institution,  supported  by  taxation,  in  the  position  of  ask- 
ing a  fee  for  part  of  what  it  offers  to  the  public.  The 
advocates  of  the  system  point  out  that  the  public  obtains 
free  as  much  as  it  otherwise  would,  the  pay  duplicates 
being  over  and  above  the  usual  stock,  that  the  collection 
is  self-supporting,  and  that  the  free  collection  finally 
benefits  thereby.  On  the  other  hand,  public  money,  al- 
though it  does  not  buy  the  books  in  the  pay  collection, 
does  go  toward  their  housing,  care,  and  distribution. 
The  question  is  largely  one  of  sentiment,  and  many  per- 
sons feel  that  a  free  public  institution  should  be  chary 
of  commercial  relations  with  its  users.     Public  opinion 

50 


FOREIGN   BOOKS 

varies  on  the  subject,  and  this  should  doubtless  largely 
determine  the  adoption  of  such  a  system  in  a  specified 
place.  It  has  certainly  been  of  great  service  in  many 
cities,  and  is  recommended  in  unqualified  terms  by  many 
experienced  librarians. 

The  part  to  be  played  by  a  library's  public  in  regu- 
lating the  selection  of  books  by  their  demands,  and  the 
advisability  of  providing  books  likely  to  be  of  value  to 
specified  classes  in  the  community,  are  treated  else- 
where in  this  book.  It  may  be  said  here,  however, 
that  the  public  library  should  and  does  welcome  the 
freest  interchange  of  aid  between  library  and  public, 
the  former  advising  the  public  regarding  its  reading 
and  the  latter,  in  turn,  suggesting  to  the  former  what 
books  should  be  purchased. 

A  particular  demand  met  in  recent  years  is  that  of 
books  in  foreign  languages.  The  demand  for  these 
comes  from  two  classes  of  readers — those  who  do  not 
speak  the  languages  as  their  mother  tongues,  but  read 
them  solely  for  literary  exercise  or  recreation,  and  those 
who  read  them  as  their  mother  literature.  Languages 
read  by  the  former  class  are  chiefly  German  and  French, 
and  in  a  lesser  degree  Italian  and  Spanish.  All  these,  of 
course,  may  also  be  read  by  the  latter  class,  and  in  addi- 
tion we  may  have  Swedish  and  Dano-Norwegian,  Rus- 
sian, Polish  and  Bohemian,  Hungarian,  modern  Greek, 
Lithuanian,  Roumanian,  and  other  tongues,  all  spoken 
and  read  by  thousands  of  recent  immigrants.  The  pub- 
lic library  made  no  attempt  to  furnish  books  in  such  lan- 
guages as  these  until  about  ten  years  ago,  and  when  a 
few  institutions  began  the  task  they  were  condemned  on 
the  ground  that  they  were  keeping  the  immigrant  from 
becoming  Americanized.  This  opinion  is  no  longer  held. 
5  51 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  PUBLIC 

Books  in  their  native  tongues  are  read  usually  by  per- 
sons too  old  to  become  Americanized  in  a  linguistic 
sense;  their  children  attend  school,  and  soon  talk  and 
read  chiefly  in  English.  Besides  this,  the  increasing  pro- 
vision of  books  in  foreign  languages,  treating  of  Ameri- 
can history,  customs,  laws,  and  ideals,  makes  these 
tongues  vehicles  of  Americanization.  Libraries  are  pay- 
ing increasing  attention  to  the  immigrant  and  in  some 
cases  have  gone  so  far  as  to  organize  classes  for  his 
instruction.  Library  introduction  cards  are  given  out 
by  naturalization  agents  in  some  places. 

A  somewhat  different  problem  is  presented  by  the 
colored  population.  Here  the  barrier  is  social.  In  the 
Northern  States  there  is  theoretically  no  discrimina- 
tion. Negroes  are  welcomed  to  the  public  library  and 
are  served  like  white  users  when  they  appear.  In  spite 
of  this,  however,  the  Negro  in  the  North  does  not  use 
the  public  library  as  much  as  would  be  expected.  Negro 
assistants  are  rare  and  the  proportion  of  colored  card 
holders  is  small.  It  would  seem  that  the  race  feels  in- 
stinctively, whether  with  justice  or  not,  that  it  is  not 
wanted.  So  far,  however,  there  has  been  no  movement 
toward  separate  library  accommodation  for  Negroes  in 
the  North,  unless  the  establishment  of  a  branch  in  a 
field  house  for  colored  people,  in  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  in 
1914,  is  so  considered. 

In  the  South  separate  accommodation  for  the  col- 
ored people,  if  they  are  to  be  accommodated  at  all,  is, 
of  course,  a  postulate.  The  problem  has  been  met  in 
three  ways — by  tacit  understanding  that  the  Negroes 
are  not  to  use  the  libraries,  by  the  provision  of  sepa- 
rate branch  buildings  especially  for  colored  people  and 
by    separate    accommodations    in    the    same    building 

52 


CONTAGION 

with  the  whites.  The  colored  branch  would  seem  the 
best  solution,  and  it  has  worked  excellently.  It  may 
ultimately  be  found  desirable  to  adopt  it  in  the  North 
also,  not  on  account  of  the  feelings  of  the  white  popula- 
tion, but  of  the  colored  people  themselves,  who  appar- 
ently will  not  use  the  ordinary  libraries  freely. 

Fear  has  often  been  expressed  lest  the  free  circula- 
tion of  books  should  serve  to  disseminate  disease.  Tests 
have  shown  that  this  is  possible,  and  experiments  on  dis- 
infection have  not  uniformly  led  to  satisfactory  results. 
While  some  experimenters  report  the  entire  destruction 
of  disease  germs  between  the  leaves  of  a  closed  book  by 
simple  exposure,  without  opening,  to  formaldehyde  gas, 
others  assert  that  nothing  short  of  live  steam  is  effective. 
The  use  of  this  latter  method  necessitates  removal  of 
bindings — a  process  evidently  unfitted  for  current  li- 
brary use.  Notwithstanding  this,  effort  has  been  made 
by  some  small  libraries  to  disinfect  all  books  between 
return  and  reissue,  the  usual  process  being  to  place  them 
overnight  in  a  tight  receptacle  with  a  generator  of  for- 
maldehyde gas.  This  process,  even  if  uniformly  effect- 
ive, would  hardly  be  possible  in  libraries  giving  out 
over  a  thousand  books  daily.  A  very  recent  French 
process,  combining  a  thorough  dusting  with  the  use  of 
dry  heat,  may  possibly  be  more  practical.  The  larger 
institutions  have  limited  their  efforts,  except  in  case  of 
epidemics,  to  ascertaining,  where  possible,  the  existence 
of  contagious  disease  in  the  homes  of  persons  holding 
library  books,  and  then  dealing  with  such  books  as  may 
seem  best,  either  by  disinfection  or  destruction.  The 
local  board  of  health  will  always  advise  in  such  cases, 
and  sometimes  assumes  responsibility  for  the  treatment 
of  the  book.    In  cities  where  an  attempt  is  made  to  take 

53 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  PUBLIC 

a  daily  census  of  contagious  diseases  the  library  will,  of 
course,  benefit  thereby.  The  facts  that  the  origin  of  a 
case  of  contagious  disease  has  rarely,  if  ever,  been  traced 
to  a  library  book,  and  that  the  percentage  of  such  cases 
among  library  assistants  is  less  than  among  the  popula- 
tion in  general,  indicate  that  there  is  little  ground  for 
alarm  on  this  score. 

The  hours  during  which  an  American  public  library 
is  open  for  use  depend  largely  on  the  funds  available  for 
its  support,  and  hence  may  vary  from  a  few  hours  a 
week  up  to  twelve  hours  or  more  daily.  Sunday  open- 
ing is  becoming  more  common,  but  the  library  is  seldom 
open  full  time  on  this  day,  and  in  some  cases  only  the 
reading  rooms  are  open,  no  books  being  circulated.  Sun- 
day opening  has  been  widely  advocated  on  the  ground 
that  the  working  man  is  unable  to  visit  the  library  on 
week  days ;  but  experience  has  not  shown  that  the  Sun- 
day use  of  public  libraries  is  by  working  people.  Usu- 
ally the  Sunday  users  are  persons  who  might  as  well  use 
the  library  on  some  other  day,  and,  as  Sunday  opening 
entails  additional  expense,  its  value  is  certainly  ques- 
tionable, and  its  adoption  in  any  particular  locality  de- 
pends on  the  peculiar  conditions  there,  and  especially 
on  the  state  of  public  sentiment. 

From  the  foregoing  remarks  on  points  of  contact  be- 
tween library  and  public  it  will  be  seen  that  many  of 
these  are  localized  at  a  single  point — the  loan  desk. 
This  point  may  be  regarded  as  the  heart  of  a  public  cir- 
culating library — the  place  where  the  book  and  its  user 
come  together  into  the  closest  touch  with  its  custodians. 
Hence  the  great  importance  of  work  at  the  loan  desk. 
The  somewhat  mechanical  employment  of  charging 
books,  important  as  it  may  be,  is  often  looked  down  upon 

54 


LOAN   DESK 

by  young  library  assistants,  who  regard  administrative 
or  cataloguing  work  as  of  higher  grade.  No  idea  could 
be  more  mistaken.  Every  person  employed  in  the  library 
should  be  assigned  to  regular  work  at  the  charging 
desk,  for  it  is  here  that  the  librarian  can  get  into  closest 
touch  with  the  reading  public. 

In  open-shelf  libraries,  however,  and  therefore  in  the 
majority  of  American  public  libraries,  the  book  and  its 
user  do  not  meet  for  the  first  time  at  the  loan  desk. 
Selection  is  made,  not  at  a  catalogue,  but  from  among 
the  books  themselves,  and  guidance  here  is  often  needed 
and  valuied.  It  is  therefore  customary  in  many  libra- 
ries to  assign  certain  members  of  the  staff  to  "  floor 
duty, ' '  where  they  are  free  to  watch  those  engaged  in  the 
selection  of  books  and  to  offer  aid  where  it  appears  to  be 
needed. 

These  two  tasks — that  of  the  desk  assistant  and  the 
assistant  on  floor  duty — are  the  most  important  in  the 
library.  To  them  all  administrative,  clerical,  and  special 
work  is  merely  subsidiary,  because  a  public  library  is 
a  public  distributor  and  these  are  the  chief  points  of 
selection  and  distribution. 


CHAPTEK    V 
READING  AND  REFERENCE  ROOMS 

The  reading  of  books  within  a  library  building  may 
be  done  in  almost  any  part  of  that  building,  but  the 
name  ''  reading  room  "  is  generally  applied  to  a  room 
set  apart  for  the  reading  of  books  not  to  be  taken  for 
home  use,  or  for  periodicals,  or  for  both.  A  reference 
room  is  a  reading  room  designed  especially  for  the  so- 
called  ^'  reference  use  "  of  books  and  periodicals,  and 
may  or  may  not  be  the  same  room  as  the  general  read- 
ing room. 

A  reading  room  not  designed  for  reference  use,  and 
separate  from  the  reference  room,  contains  usually  cur- 
rent newspapers  and  periodicals,  generally  nontechnical, 
and  sometimes  a  small  collection  of  books.  Other  books, 
when  desired,  are  sent  for  from  the  stack  or  from  the 
open  circulation  shelves. 

A  reference  room  contains  usually  such  books  as  are 
intended  purely  for  reference,  such  as  dictionaries  and 
cyclopedias,  which  are  never  read  through  from  page 
to  page,  as  well  as  others  that  may  be  used  for  reference 
if  desired  and  that  are  often  so  used,  such  as  histories, 
or  scientific  or  art  books  in  several  volumes.  With  a 
large  collection  more  books  are  added  that  are  not  in- 
tended purely  for  reference.  Obviously  there  is  no  book 
that  may  not  be  used  for  *'  reference."  A  reader  who 
consults  one  of  Anthony  Hope's  stories  to  ascertain  the 

56 


WHAT    IS    ''  REFERENCE  ''  ? 

name  of  a  character  or  to  refresh  his  memory  in  rej]:ard 
to  some  incident,  without  reading  it  consecutively,  is 
using  it  as  a  reference  book.  The  reference  collection  is 
therefore  supplemented  by  loans  from  the  main  stock  or 
from  other  collections,  as  desired.  The  reference  collec- 
tion proper,  or  most  of  it,  is  now  generally  on  open 
shelves,  being  obviously  more  usable  thus.  The  reading 
rooms  and  reference  rooms  in  a  library  may  be  com- 
bined in  almost  any  conceivable  way,  or  the  lines  be- 
tween them  may  be  drawn  in  any  one  of  various  places. 
There  may,  for  instance,  be  a  separate  room  for  newspa- 
per readers,  or  a  separate  department  for  periodicals, 
and  separate  reading  rooms  in  connection  with  special 
collections,  such  as  those  on  art,  technology,  or  social  sci- 
ence. In  a  very  large  library  a  huge  reading  room,  con- 
taining many  thousand  books  on  open  shelves,  is  gener- 
ally connected  with  the  stack  by  a  mechanical  carrier,  so 
that  the  whole  collection  is  at  the  disposal  of  the  student. 
Much  serious  investigation  is  carried  on  in  rooms  of  this 
kind,  and  the  work  done  in  reading  and  reference  rooms 
varies  from  this  all  the  way  down  to  the  hasty  skimming 
of  a  newspaper.  In  the  older  libraries  "alcove  privi- 
leges" were  granted  to  accredited  students,  with  the 
use  of  a  table  and  permission  to  write  thereon.  In 
modern  buildings  study  rooms  are  often  provided. 

The  possibility  of  using  periodicals  implies  very 
full  indexes.  Some  of  these,  such  as  Poole 's  Index  and 
the  Readers  Guide,  are  now  issued  regularly,  and  the 
librarian  supplements  them  with  others  that  he  makes 
himself,  adapting  them  to  his  own  special  conditions 
and  needs.  Some  of  the  most  useful  periodical  lists  are 
made  cooperatively,  often  by  the  combined  libraries  of 
a  city,  thus  representing  its  entire  resources. 

57 


READING  AND  REFERENCE  ROOMS 

The  simplest  form  of  library  reading  room  is  doubt- 
less one  of  those  sometimes  carried  on  in  connection  with 
a  delivery  station,  and  may  be  regarded  as  the  first  step 
toward  the  transformation  of  such  a  station  into  a  branch. 
Instead  of  locating  the  delivery  station  in  a  store,  a  room 
with  a  permanent  custodian  is  provided,  and  is  fur- 
nished with  newspapers,  periodicals,  and  even  sometimes 
with  a  collection  of  books,  not  to  be  taken  away.  These 
may  or  may  not  include  a  small  reference  collection.  If 
any  of  the  stock  is  allowed  to  circulate,  the  place  be- 
comes a  true  branch  library,  thoxigh  a  small  one. 

In  a  true  branch,  or  a  small  library,  occupying  one 
room  only,  that  room  may  have  all  the  functions  of  a 
reading  and  reference  room.  In  many  ways  this  close 
combination  is  an  ideal  one.  The  use  of  periodicals  is 
an  important  part  of  most  reference  work,  and  the  cur- 
rent and  bound  copies  must  both  be  accessible.  This 
means  duplication  or  a  close  relation  between  reference 
room  and  periodical  reading  room.  Again,  it  is  desir- 
able that  a  person  using  the  reference  books  should  have 
ready  access  also  to  the  whole  stock  of  books,  which  in 
a  library  as  small  as  that  of  which  we  have  been  speaking 
means  the  books  in  the  open-shelf  circulation  room.  An 
arrangement  whereby  the  reference  reader  sits  in  a  room 
that  contains,  besides  the  reference  books,  the  whole  cir- 
culating stock,  as  well  as  the  periodicals,  including  both 
current  and  bound  numbers,  is  evidently  most  con- 
venient. But  with  a  very  slight  increase  of  size  this 
combination  becomes  impossible.  The  first  step  is  usu- 
ally to  remove  either  the  reference  readers  or  those  who 
wish  to  read  only  newspapers  and  periodicals;  in  other 
words,  to  establish  a  separate  periodical  reading  room  or 
a  separate  reference  room.    In  the  former  case  the  bound 

58 


WHAT    IS    ''  REFERENCE  ''  ? 

periodicals  are  sometimes  left  in  the  reference  room, 
which  necessitates  the  frequent  sending  of  these  to  the 
reading  room,  and  also  the  occasional  sending  of  cur- 
rent issues  from  reading  room  to  reference  room,  if  du- 
plicates cannot  be  afforded.  If  it  is  the  reference  room 
that  is  separated,  the  inconveniences  multiply;  for,  be- 
sides those  above  enumerated,  the  reference  reader  is  re- 
moved from  the  main  stock  of  books,  and  he  either 
neglects  to  make  use  of  these  or  else  they  must  be  fre- 
quently sent  to  and  fro.  If  both  reading  and  reference 
uses  are  removed  from  the  circulation  room  and  the  two 
are  combined  at  some  remote  place,  the  trouble  with  the 
periodicals  is  eliminated,  but  the  other  remains,  and  in 
addition  such  bound  volumes  of  periodicals  as  are  de- 
sired for  circulation  must  be  duplicated.  These  difficul- 
ties are  minimized  when  reading,  reference  and  circula- 
tion rooms  can  be  located  at  adjacent  points,  as  they  may 
be  with  a  library  of  moderate  size  having  all  or  most  of 
its  rooms  on  one  floor.  In  a  very  large  library  they  are 
reduced  to  a  minimum  in  other  ways,  as  by  duplication 
where  necessary,  by  the  use  of  mechanical  carriers  for 
quickly  delivering  books  from  the  stack  in  any  part  of 
the  building,  and  so  on. 

Using  ''  reference  use  ''  in  its  broadest  sense,  as  sig- 
nifying the  use  of  books  in  the  library  building  as  op- 
posed to  home  use  through  circulation,  many  of  our  older 
libraries  are,  or  originally  were,  libraries  for  reference 
only.    Such  have  now  usually  been  supplemented  by  thev 
establishment   of   separate    public    circulating   libraries  / 
in  the  same  city,  or  by  the  addition  of  circulation  de-/ 
partments.     The  typical  central  building  of  a  modern 
American  public  library  has  ample  provision  for  both    ^ 
the  reference  and  the  home  use  of  books,  and  generally 

59 


READING    AND    REFERENCE    ROOMS 

there  is  no  definite  division  between  the  circulating  and 
the  reference  stock.  Certain  books,  to  be  sure,  may  for 
convenience  be  shelved  in  the  reference  rcom,  and  are 
mostly  such  as  would  not  ordinarily  be  required  for 
home  use,  but  there  are  usually  no  books,  adapted  for 
circulation,  that  may  not  be  sent  to  the  homes  of  the 
users  if  desired.  In  the  case  of  certain  older  libraries, 
however,  that  were  established  as  reference  collections 
and  that  have  since  taken  on  the  work  of  circulating 
books  for  home  use,  a  definite  line  of  division  must  be 
drawn.  In  such  libraries  all  books  purchased  from  the 
income  of  certain  funds  must  by  the  terms  of  the  be- 
quests by  which  the  funds  were  originally  acquired  re- 
main in  the  library  building.  After  the  establishment 
of  a  circulating  department,  especially  if  the  principal 
circulation  of  books  is  carried  on  in  a  central  building, 
where  the  chief  reference  collection  is  also  located,  the 
problem  may  be  solved  by  purchasing  from  reference 
funds  only  such  books  as  would  properly  be  placed  on 
the  reference  shelves.  In  some  cases,  however,  great  col- 
lections have  been  brought  together  before  the  library 
has  begun  to  give  out  books  for  home  use,  and  it  may 
then  contain  many  thousands  of  books  suitable  for 
circulation  that  may  not  leave  the  shelves  except  to 
be  used  within  the  building.  This  is,  of  course,  an 
unfortunate  situation,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  way  to 
remedy  it. 

The  reference  use  of  books  may  be  roughly  classified 
into  three  divisions :  the  looking  up  of  definite  points  to 
answer  questions  that  have  arisen  in  any  one  of  various 
ways ;  the  combination,  simplification,  or  systematization 
of  previous  material;  and  reading  in  connection  with 
scientific  investigation. 

60 


REFERENCE    QUESTIONS 

The  first  kind  of  use  has  so  multiplied  since  the  ad- 
vent of  the  modern  public  library  that  to  many  librari- 
ans it  practically  exhausts  the  possibilities  of  a  reference 
collection.  A  simple  collection  of  reference  books  is  one 
that  will  enable  a  person  to  answer  such  questions  as 
**  How  high  is  Chimborazo?  "  '*  Where  and  how  large 
is  Hankow?  '*  and  *'  How  many  vibrations  per  second 
produce  high  C?  "  A  more  extensive  collection  would 
enable  one  to  ascertain,  for  instance,  the  best  method  of 
dyeing  flax  purple,  the  structure  of  the  language  used  in 
the  Andaman  Islands,  and  the  relation  of  Mendeleef's 
classification  of  the  elements  to  previous  attempts  in  the 
same  direction. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  this  use  of  the  library  as  a 
sort  of  easily  consulted  universal  cyclopedia  is  con- 
venient and  useful  for  the  general  public.  The  only 
thing  about  it  that  appears  to  call  for  protest  is  the  in- 
creasing feeling  on  the  part  of  the  consulting  public  that 
it  is  the  librarian's  business  to  obtain  the  desired  infor- 
mation from  the  books  where  it  may  be  found  and  fur- 
nish it  to  the  inquirer  in  convenient  and  proper  form 
for  whatever  use  he  may  desire  to  make  of  it.  In  many 
cases  it  is  good  policy  for  the  reference  librarian  to  do  a 
favor  of  this  kind,  especially  if  it  involves  no  particular 
labor.  Thus,  if  the  editor  of  a  local  newspaper  tele- 
phones to  the  library  to  ascertain  whether  the  books 
available  there  give  the  height  of  a  mountain  that  does 
not  appear  in  the  office  gazetteer,  it  is  almost  as  easy  and 
much  more  courteous  to  look  up  the  figures  and  tele- 
phone them  back  than  simply  to  inform  the  editor  that 
the  information  is  in  the  library  and  is  at  the  disposal  of 
anyone  that  may  be  sent  to  obtain  it.  Again,  when  a 
user  of  the  library  is  in  search  of  an  elusive  bit  of  infor- 

61 


READING   AND   REFERENCE   ROOMS 

mation  he  naturally  seeks  the  help  of  the  librarian,  whose 
knowledge  of  the  books  is  fresher  and  more  comprehen- 
sive; and  the  librarian,  if  in  doubt,  will,  of  course,  do 
considerable  searching  himself,  while  indicating  to  the 
inquirer  other  probable  sources  of  the  information  de- 
sired. In  such  cases  as  these,  and  in  others  that  may 
occur  to  the  reader,  it  is  quite  legitimate  for  a  user  of 
the  library  to  ask  the  reference  librarian  or  his  assistants 
to  give  personal  aid  in  looking  up  a  point,  or  even  to  do 
the  entire  work  of  searching  for  it.  Many  library  users, 
however,  go  much  further  than  this,  and  call  upon  li- 
brary assistants  to  do  work  that  is  quite  beyond  the 
sphere  of  their  duty — ^work  that  should  be  done  by  some 
one  employed  and  paid  by  the  searcher  if  he  has  not  the 
time  or  the  ability  to  perform  it  himself.  Thus  the  libra- 
rian may  be  called  upon  to  compile  or  copy  family  trees, 
to  abstract  long  recipes  or  bits  of  narrative,  or  to  pre- 
pare lists  of  dates  or  other  numerical  statistics.  In  ex- 
treme cases  probably  no  librarian  would  hesitate  to  re- 
fuse, but  the  line  between  allowable  and  inadmissible 
work  of  this  sort  is  drawn  in  different  places  at  different 
libraries,  and  the  persistent  demands  that  are  made  on 
most  reference  libraries  for  ready-made  answers  to  ques- 
tions of  this  kind  are  having  their  effect  in  making  their 
policy  more  and  more  liberal  in  this  respect.  Probably 
the  answering  of  busy  men's  queries  over  the  telephone 
is  coming  to  be  recognized  as  a  perfectly  legitimate  part 
of  the  reference  library's  work.  It  is  doubtless  good 
policy  for  the  library  so  to  admit  it,  as  this  serves  to  in- 
fluence public  opinion  and  to  establish  its  position  in 
the  community.  Especially  is  it  desirable  for  the  library 
to  go  a  little  out  of  its  way  in  this  direction  in  a  com- 
munity whose  reading  has  been  largely  trivial  and  in- 

62 


BOOK   COMPILATION 

consequential,   and  where  the  institution  has  been  re- 
garded as  chiefly  of  value  to  women  and  children. 

The  answering  of  special  questions,  calling  for  defi- 
nite bits  of  information,  is,  however,  neither  the  only 
nor  the  most  important  kind  of  work  that  may  be  done 
by  the  reference  collection.  A  large  collection  of  this 
sort  is  more  or  less  rich  in  original  sources — the  narra- 
tives of  travels,  events,  or  scientific  investigations  by 
those  who  have  experienced  them  or  carried  them  on; 
letters,  diaries,  and  documents;  the  proceedings  of 
learned  societies,  and  so  on.  These  are  not  adapted,  ex- 
cept in  some  cases,  for  continuous  reading,  and  they  are 
not  consulted  'by  the  ordinary  reader,  or  even  known  to 
him.  The  works  that  the  ordinary  reader  does  study  or 
read,  must,  however,  be  prepared  by  their  aid — ^text- 
books, treatises,  histories,  biographies,  essays  on  popular 
science,  history  or  description  of  mechanical  invention, 
and  so  on.  Sometimes  these  works  may,  in  their  turn,  be 
used  as  sources ;  the  data  in  a  popular  history  or  scien- 
tific treatise  may  be  second  or  third  hand,  or  even  fur- 
ther removed  from  the  original  source,  in  which  case  the 
chances  of  inaccuracy  are,  of  course,  much  increased. 
The  writers  who  perform  this  valuable  and  necessary 
work  of  systematization,  combination,  and  simplification 
are,  unfortunately,  not  all  competent.  Indeed,  one  may 
go  so  far  as  to  say  that  complete  competence  is  the  ex- 
ception rather  than  the  rule,  unless  the  compilation  cov- 
ers the  narrow  ground  of  a  contracted  specialty  with 
which  the  compiler  may  be  thoroughly  familiar.  The 
case  where  the  writer  of  one  of  these  books  is  personally 
familiar  with  all  that  he  describes  or  narrates  is  much 
rarer  than  most  readers  suppose.  A  popular  treatise  on 
astronomy  by  an  eminent  astronomer  touches  upon  scores 

63 


READING    AND    REFERENCE    ROOMS 

of  topics  outside  of  that  astronomer's  specialty — topics 
of  which  he  personally  knows  scarcely  more  than  he  does 
of  zoology  or  botany.  Even  such  a  special  book,  for  in- 
stance, as  '*  The  Sun,"  by  Prof.  C.  A.  Young,  who  made 
a  study  of  the  subject  extending  over  nearly  a  lifetime 
of  investigation,  describes  the  results  of  much  research 
that  did  not  exactly  fall  within  his  particular  field.  All 
that  we  can  ask  of  such  a  compiler  or  popularizer  is  a 
sufficient  knowledge  of  his  subject  to  enable  him  to  se- 
lect and  combine  correctly  the  elements  of  the  informa- 
tion that  he  desires  to  convey.  When  a  compiler  does 
not  possess  this  knowledge,  he  is  very  apt  to  slip  up. 
Much  work  of  this  sort  is  done  for  the  daily  papers,  and 
the  worker,  being  in  a  hurry,  prefers  to  do  his  compiling 
at  second  hand,  using  popular  works,  cyclopedia  arti- 
cles, and  essays  in  reviews,  in  which  the  original  material 
has  already  undergone  a  preliminary  sifting  and  ar- 
rangement. Often  such  work  amounts  to  no  more  than 
a  reuniting  in  different  form  of  some  one  previous  com- 
pilation, such  as  a  cyclopedia  article ;  and  this  may  serve 
its  purpose  well  enough. 

It  is  common  opinion  that  the  expert  compiler  of  a 
valuable  treatise  from  first-hand  sources  must  go  far 
afield  for  his  data  and  consume  many  years  in  putting 
them  together.  This  may  or  may  not  be  true;  but  it  is 
undoubtedly  a  fact  that  a  sufficient  assemblage  of  data  is 
easier  to  find  than  intelligence  and  ability  in  combining 
and  discussing  them.  Almost  any  good  library  contains 
undigested  material  that,  in  the  hands  of  the  proper  per- 
son, is  capable  of  yielding  results  of  value  to  the  world. 
Freeman,  the  historian,  astonished  some  admirers  by  tell- 
ing them  that  he  had,  around  the  walls  of  his  own  study, 
all  the  volumes  that  he  desired  to  consult  in  writing  his 

64 


SCIENTIFIC    INVESTIGATION 

historical  works,  and  that  it  was  not  necessary  for  him, 
as  they  had  supposed,  to  visit  constantly  the  great  libra- 
ries in  London,  Paris,  Vienna,  and  St.  Petersburg.  Many 
others  had  easy  access  to  practically  the  same  assemblage 
of  books;  yet  there  is  only  one  Freeman. 

When  the  value  of  careful,  intelligent,  expert  work 
of  this  kind  is  more  generally  realized  it  will  be  done 
better  than  it  is.  Readers  will  insist  upon  more  read- 
able and  more  accurate  work;  publishers  will  cease  to 
prize  speed  of  execution  above  all  else;  writers  will  re- 
fuse to  give  to  the  public  except  of  their  best.  The  great 
mass  of  informational  literature  must  be  produced  in 
this  way,  and  the  public  library  is  its  laboratory.  Pos- 
sibly the  library,  by  broadening  its  collections  and  mak- 
ing them  bear  more  and  more  upon  this  valuable  func- 
tion, instead  of  directing  them  wholly  to  the  satisfaction 
of  more  or  less  desultory  questioning,  may  hasten  this 
happy  day. 

The  third  use  of  a  reference  library,  as  an  aid  in 
investigation,  is  somewhat  closely  related  to  the  second. 
As  investigation  in  this  country  is  usually  carried  on  in 
connection  with  university  work  and  by  university  pro- 
fessors or  students,  the  public  library,  especially  in 
smaller  towns,  is  not  so  often  called  upon  to  perform 
this  function,  except  when  we  interpret  the  word  **  in- 
vestigation "  very  widely. 

The  man  who  decides  to  investigate,  we  will  say,  the 
properties  of  a  new  alloy,  or  some  recently  discovered 
phenomena  that  may  be  due  to  a  new  form  of  radiation, 
or — to  go  beyond  the  limits  of  physical  science — some 
events  in  the  life  of  a  Revolutionary  general  that  have 
been  imperfectly  cleared  up,  will  want  to  know,  first  of 
all,  whether  the  subject  has  been  investigated,  or  dis- 

65 


READING   AND    REFERENCE    ROOMS 

cussed,  or  even  casually  touched  upon,  by  others.  The 
literature  that  he  finds  may  be  so  rich,  so  varied,  and  so 
complete  that  he  will  decide  to  give  up  his  course  of 
experiments  altogether.  Or,  if  he  does  not,  their  num- 
ber and  kind  and  the  way  in  which  they  are  carried  on 
may  be  determined  by  what  he  discovers  in  the  existing 
literature  of  the  subject.  An  investigation  entered  upon 
hastily  and  without  a  thorough  preliminary  study  of  this 
kind  is  likely  to  be  quite  wasted,  and  the  existing  amount 
of  duplicate  inventions  and  discoveries  and  of  learned 
discussions  not  so  well  done  as  they  have  been  done  al- 
ready is  sufficiently  great  to  make  the  judicious  grieve. 
It  is  the  library  alone  that  can  furnish  inventors,  inves- 
tigators, and  students  of  all  kinds  the  opportunity  to 
forestall  this  kind  of  wasteful  effort.  And  since  inves- 
tigation is  more  and  more  indulged  in  by  the  ordinary 
citizen,  the  public  library  should  come  as  much  as  pos- 
sible to  his  aid.  It  is  estimated  that  many  thousands  of 
persons  are  now  at  work  on  dirigible  balloons  or  aero- 
planes. Doubtless  a  very  large  percentage  of  these  are 
laboring  with  little  preliminary  study  or  knowledge,  and 
will  produce  unworkable  machines.  Because  of  ignorant 
attempts  of  this  kind,  the  United  States  Patent  Office 
has  been  described  by  a  great  economist  as  the  most 
melancholy  place  in  the  world — a  museum  of  misdirected 
effort.  If  the  public  library  does  its  duty,  effort  of  this 
kind  will  be  less  in  the  future  than  in  the  past. 

How  shall  the  use  of  the  reading  and  reference 
rooms  be  regulated?  This  is  a  more  difficult  question 
in  a  small  library  or  in  one  of  moderate  size  than  in  a 
large  one.  It  is  obviously  well  to  place  as  little  hin- 
drance as  may  be  in  the  way  of  the  business  man  who 
runs  in  for  a  moment  to  glance  at  the  dictionary  or 

66 


READING-ROOM    USE 

cyclopedia,  to  look  at  the  city  directory  or  the  gazetteer, 
or  to  consult  a  time-table.  To  stop  such  a  man  in  order 
that  he  may  sign  his  name  to  something  or  account  for 
himself  in  any  way  is  little  less  than  an  outrage.  On 
the  other  hand,  a  man  who  desires  that  a  special  study 
room  be  reserved  for  him,  with  a  considerable  collection 
of  valuable  books  at  his  disposal  for  some  time,  should 
evidently  be  required  to  establish  not  only  his  responsi- 
bility, but  his  standing  as  a  student  or  as  a  writer,  be- 
fore such  a  privilege  is  granted  him.  Between  these 
extremes  lie  many  classes  of  so-called  "  reference  '' 
users.  For  the  casual  and  hasty  consulter  of  diction- 
aries, etc.,  a  separate  room,  to  which  access  is  absolutely 
free,  may  be  provided  by  the  large  libraries.  The  small 
libraries,  however,  often  have  reference  books  of  all 
kinds  in  the  same  inclosure  with  the  circulating  collec- 
tion, and  sometimes  also  with  a  general  reading  room. 
What  shall  such  libraries  do?  To  admit  the  public 
without  formality  means  more  or  less  confusion  between 
card  holders  and  noncard  holders.  Some  cut  the  Gor- 
dian  knot  by  admitting  none  but  card  holders,  thus 
requiring  the  busy  consulter  of  a  cyclopedia  to  go 
through  precisely  the  same  formalities  as  if  he  desired 
to  draw  books  for  home  use  for  himself  and  his  family. 
Others  use  small  identification  tickets.  Where  there  is 
a  separate  reading  room  for  newspapers  and  periodicals 
it  is  often  possible  to  admit  the  public  freely,  although 
some  libraries  require  readers  to  enter  names  and  ad- 
dresses in  a  book.  In  a  reading  room  of  this  kind  the 
library  often  has  trouble  in  excluding  the  '*  tramp  " 
element — rough  and  often  dirty  persons  who  come  to 
lounge  or  rest,  perhaps  to  sleep,  rarely  to  read ;  and 
who  often  occupy  seats  to  the  exclusion  of  legitimate  or 
6  67 


READING  AND  REFERENCE  ROOMS 

actual  readers.  Such  trouble  may  be  mitigated  by  the 
issue  of  tickets.  In  libraries  where  the  newspaper  read- 
ing room  is  somewhat  inaccessible  there  is  little  annoy- 
ance of  this  kind.  Thus  in  most  of  the  branch  libraries 
in  New  York,  where  the  reading  room  generally  occu- 
pies the  third  story,  it  is  almost  entirely  absent.  Per- 
sons willing  to  climb  to  the  third  story  are  those  who 
are  genuinely  desirous  of  reading.  The  rooms  were  thus 
located,  however,  not  for  this  reason,  but  because  the 
cost  of  land  made  a  three-story  structure  necessary  and 
the  reading  room  seemed  to  be  the  best  department  to 
put  at  the  top.  In  many  libraries  care  is  taken  to  place 
this  room,  especially  when  restricted  to  newspapers 
alone,  in  a  place  as  accessible  as  possible  from  the  street, 
and  no  effort  is  made  to  keep  out  tramps.  The  result  is 
usually  an  objectionable  room,  which  is  regarded  as  a 
sort  of  necessary  evil.  This  evil  seems  to  have  reached 
much  larger  proportions  abroad  than  in  American  pub- 
lic libraries,  and  English  librarians  are  seriously  consid- 
ering the  abolition  of  the  newspaper  room.  Even  in  this 
country  some  libraries  have  ceased  to  subscribe  to  news- 
papers, on  the  ground  that  their  presence  attracts  an 
undesirable  element,  and  that  their  cheapness  makes 
them  accessible  to  almost  everyone.  It  would  seem  a 
pity,  however,  to  proceed  to  this  extreme.  The  daily 
paper  is  certainly  as  legitimate  and  as  useful  a  period- 
ical publication  as  those  issued  weekly,  monthly,  or 
quarterly.  Its  presence  does  not  attract  undesirable 
readers  so  much  as  the  position  and  ready  accessibility 
of  the  room  in  which  it  is  generally  kept.  Although 
most  readers  buy  one  or  two  papers  every  day,  a  com- 
parison of  half  a  dozen  sheets  in  order  to  obtain,  for  in- 
stance, different  accounts  of  the  same  event,  is  usually 

68 


MAPS 

possible  only  in  a  reading  room.  It  is  difficult  also  to 
obtain  files  elsewhere.  A  large  library  will  generally 
keep  these  very  freely  for  a  short  time,  say  a  year  from 
issue,  and  will  bind  and  shelve  permanently  as  many  as 
it  may.  Even  the  smallest  library  should  keep  a  file  of 
one  local  paper  for  as  long  a  time  as  it  can.  In  a  sys- 
tem of  branches  it  is  often  possible  for  each  branch  to 
file  some  one  paper,  and  thus  to  make,  through  an  inter- 
branch  loan  system,  a  very  large  number  of  files  access- 
ible to  readers.  In  keeping  files,  preference  may  be 
given  to  papers,  like  the  New  York  Times,  which 
issue  an  annual  index,  although  such  an  index  is  of 
almost  as  much  value  in  searching  other  dailies  as  for 
the  one  to  which  it  refers  directly. 

Among  special  collections  that  are  looked  for  in  al- 
most all  large  and  some  small  reference  libraries  are 
those  of  maps,  prints,  manuscripts,  government  docu- 
ments, historical  and  genealogical  material,  and  music. 

Maps  are  useful  in  small  libraries  as  well  as  large 
ones,  and  many  of  the  best  are  to  be  found  outside  of 
atlases,  which  are  usually  related  to  the  original  surveys, 
somewhat  as  the  compilations  that  we  have  been  discuss- 
ing above  are  related  to  original  research.  A  large  part  of 
the  original  documents  in  the  present  case  consist  of 
topographic  maps  of  different  countries  issued  by  their 
various  governments.  Unfortunately,  these  are  not  on 
the  same  scale,  and  there  is  no  reliable  standard  map  of 
the  entire  civilized  world.  Various  civilized  states  have 
now  agreed  to  combine  in  the  issue  of  a  map  of  the 
world  on  the  uniform  scale  of  1  to  1,000,000  (about 
sixteen  miles  to  the  inch),  and  such  a  map  is  in  proc- 
ess of  preparation.  Maps  should  be  kept  and  indexed, 
even  by  small  libraries  that  are  not  making  special  col- 

69 


READING  AND  REFERENCE  ROOMS 

lections.  There  are  very  many  ways  of  keeping  them 
in  order.  Maps  that  are  to  be  consulted  freely  by  the 
public  may,  of  course,  be  hung  upon  the  wall  or  may 
be  mounted  on  rollers  in  sets.  Others  may  be  cut  into 
uniform  pieces  and  kept  in  shallow  drawers.  None 
should  be  folded,  as  the  map  will  soon  become  illegible 
not  only  at  the  fold,  but  for  some  distance  on  either 
side.  The  "  dissected  ''  map  can  easily  be  put  together 
for  purposes  of  consultation,  and  if  likely  to  be  used  a 
good  deal,  the  separate  pieces  may  be  mounted  on  heavy 
paper  or  on  linen. 

Prints  should  be  collected  by  all  libraries.  Their 
uses  are  treated  at  length  in  another  chapter.  Manu- 
scripts may  form  a  considerable  and  valuable  part  of  a 
large  public  collection.  In  a  small  public  library  it  is 
better  to  include  only  those  of  local  interest,  and  then 
only  when  there  is  no  local  historical  society.  Local 
archives  will  naturally  be  cared  for  by  the  municipality. 
In  case,  however,  that  the  librarian  sees  valuable  mate- 
rial going  to  destruction  under  the  care  of  either  or 
both  of  such  bodies,  he  may  plausibly  offer  to  act  as 
their  custodian,  and  may  thereby  save  material  of  no  lit- 
tle value.  Manuscripts  in  faded  ink  may  be  photo- 
graphed while  photography  is  still  able  to  preserve 
something  of  their  contents.  Brittle  papers,  especially 
when  folded,  may  be  spread  out  and  mended  with  trans- 
parent paper,  or  even  protected  on  one  or  both  sides 
with  fine  silk  gauze.  Some  may  be  preserved  in 
scrapbooks  with  transparent  leaves  of  tough  onion-skin 
paper.  In  order  to  preserve  the  contents  of  some  such 
documents  permanently  it  is  often  necessary  to  put  them 
into  print.  This  may  be  done  by  the  library  itself,  in 
its  bulletin  or  in  a  separate  series  of  publications.    In  a 

70 


MUSIC 

small  town  library  the  local  paper  will  often  be  glad  to 
print  material  of  this  kind.  Small  libraries  should  also 
undertake  to  keep  together  much  local  historical  and 
genealogical  material,  especially  in  places  where  there 
is  no  local  historical  society.  This  may  well  include 
files  of  all  local  publications,  especially  of  the  ephe- 
meral sort  not  usually  preserved,  such  as  programs, 
broadsides,  posters,  etc.,  reports  of  charitable  and  other 
organizations,  and  everything  likely  to  throw  light  on 
the  town's  current  life.  The  large  public  library  often 
contains  such  material  in  general,  sometimes  in  consid- 
erable amounts,  even  in  duplication  of  the  collections 
of  historical  or  genealogical  societies  in  the  same  city. 
Such  duplication  is  objectionable.  Either  the  public 
library's  collection  should  be  turned  over  to  the  society 
on  its  consent  to  give  the  general  public  access  to  the 
whole,  or  the  library  should  house  and  care  for  the 
entire  collection,  without  transfer  of  ownership  of  the 
society's  part  of  it. 

Music,  in  the  average  public  library,  is  probably  of    > 
more  value  as  part  of  the  circulating  than  of  the  refer-  / 
ence  collection.    In  libraries  where  music  is  circulated^ 
the  demand  for  it  is  great,  and  it  would  seem  that  the 
library  may  be  able  to  play  a  great  part  in  the  popu- 
larization of  good  music.     The  circulation  of  pianola 
rolls  and  of  phonograph  records  has  also  been  pro- 
posed, with  the  same  end  in  view,  and  has  even  been 
tried  experimentally  in  one  or  two  places.     It  would 
seem,  at  any  rate,  as  if  a  large  reference  collection  of 
music  scores  necessarily  implied  the  presence  in  the 
library  of  a  sound-proof  room.     Such  a  room  should 
contain  a  piano,  but  users  desiring  to  execute  concerted 
pieces  will  naturally  bring  their  instruments  with  them. 

71 


READING  AND  REFERENCE  ROOMS 

Government  documents  are  a  bugbear  to  many  libra- 
ries, but  the  rules  governing  their  use  have  been  sim- 
plified of  late  years.  Small  institutions  that  had  been 
made  official  depositaries  were  formerly  obliged  to  re- 
ceive and  store  tons  of  material  that  they  could  not 
use.  At  present  libraries  may  designate  the  kind  of 
material  that  they  wish  to  receive.  Possibly  at  some 
future  time  the  depositary  libraries  will  be  limited  to  a 
few  large  institutions,  named  definitely  by  act  of  Con- 
gress; and  all  libraries  that  conform  to  certain 
specified  regulations  will  be  furnished  free,  on  de- 
mand, with  all  documents  of  a  specified  kind  and 
grade.  The  large  library  will,  of  course,  receive,  shelve, 
and  index  everything  published  by  our  own  Govern- 
ment, and  will  include,  besides,  much  that  can  be  ob- 
tained from  foreign  governments.  All  this  will  form 
part  of  the  reference  collection.  The  library  of  moder- 
ate size,  not  a  depositary,  is  inclined  to  disregard  all  gov- 
ernment publications,  which  is  a  pity.  The  Government 
of  the  United  States  is  the  largest  publisher  in  the 
world,  and,  like  other  publishers,  it  issues  material  of 
very  different  kinds — almost  everything  except  fiction. 
It  publishes  readable  biography,  history,  travel,  science, 
and  art.  Unfortunately,  this  fact  is  concealed,  in  most 
cases,  by  the  main  title  page,  which  states  simply  that 
the  book  is  a  report  to  some  bureau  chief,  or  is  No.  4,114 
of  a  series  issued  by  a  certain  department.  On  a  second 
title  page  we  have  the  real  title  and  the  author's  name; 
and  it  is  this  that  should  be  used  by  the  small  library. 
Disregarding  catalogue  rules,  such  a  library  should  con- 
ceal as  faithfully  as  possible  from  its  readers  that  a  cer- 
tain interesting  book  is  a  government  document.  The 
revelation  of  this  damning  fact  would  probably  insure 

72 


DOCUMENTS;  DUPLICATION 

it  permanent  immunity  from  use.  It  should  be  cata- 
logued and  shelved  as  if  issued  by  any  other  publisher 
— a  perfectly  logical  treatment,  under  these  conditions 
— when  it  will  doubtless  be  popular.  Much  of  what  has 
been  said  applies  also  to  state  and  municipal  docu- 
ments, except  that  a  small  library  will  naturally  make 
available  more  of  the  latter.  Whether  it  keeps  an  en- 
tire set  of  all  these  will  depend  largely  on  whether  the 
town  or  city  does  so  and  how  available  to  the  public 
these  are.  In  general,  libraries^  large  and  small,  are 
making  more  and  more  use  of  free  material  of  all 
kinds — ^pamphlets,  catalogues,  folders  and  newspaper 
clippings.  These  are  preserved  in  various  ways.  Per- 
haps the  best  is  to  use  manila  envelopes  filed  vertically, 
which  makes  it  possible  to  keep  together  various  forms 
of  this  miscellaneous  material  and  obviates  the  neces- 
sity of  entering  it  in  the  catalogue. 

We  have  spoken  above  of  objectionable  duplications 
in  historical  and  genealogical  material.  In  towns  where 
there  is  more  than  one  library  accessible  to  the  public, 
these  should  reach  some  modus  vivendi  that  will  pre- 
vent duplication  of  any  class  of  literature.  This  may 
usually  be  done  by  agreeing  to  specialize.  For  example, 
in  Chicago  such  an  agreement  has  been  made  by  th^ 
Public  Library,  the  John  Crerar  Library,  and  the  New- 
berry Library.  The  Public  Library  specializes  in  gen- 
eral literature,  the  John  Crerar  in  science,  the  New- 
berry in  history,  and  so  on.  Economics  is  now  the  only 
field  in  which  the  two  last-named  libraries  conflict.  In 
pursuance  of  this  policy,  the  Newberry  Library  has 
even  transferred  to  the  John  Crerar  its  medical  collec- 
tion, which  had  reached  a  considerable  size.  Such  ac- 
tion is  evidently  a  long  step  toward  a  complete  under- 

73 


READING  AND  REFERENCE  ROOMS 

standing  between  civic  institutions ;  and  it  deserves  the 
highest  commendation. 

In  New  York  the  consolidation  of  the  large  refer- 
ence collections  in  the  Astor  and  Lenox  libraries  before 
the  opening  of  the  new  Public  Library  building  made 
specialization  necessary  between  these  two.  All  the 
books  on  genealogy  and  on  music  were  placed  in  the 
Lenox  building,  while  the  Astor  was  made  a  general 
reference  collection.  Where  valuable  public  or  semipub- 
lic  collections  on  special  subjects  exist  elsewhere  in  the 
city  the  Public  Library  does  not  purchase  additions  in 
these  subjects.  It  thus  leaves  law  to  the  Bar  Associa- 
tion Library,  medicine  to  that  of  the  Academy  of  Medi- 
cine, engineering  to  the  library  of  the  united  engineer- 
ing societies,  and  architecture  to  Columbia  University. 
Although  such  a  policy  scatters  reference  books  rather 
v/idely,  it  is,  as  has  been  said,  merely  of  the  nature  of  a 
modus  vivendi.  Where  consolidation  is  possible,  it  may 
be  better  to  have  but  one  institution ;  where  it  is  not,  it 
is  certainly  better  that  the  existing  institutions  should 
divide  the  field  of  purchase  and  not  waste  their  money 
in  useless  duplication. 

Another  way  in  which  library  solidarity  is  now  pro- 
moted is  through  interlibrary  loans.  Of  what  benefit 
the  free  interchange  of  books  among  the  members  of  a 
branch-library  system  may  be,  we  shall  see  in  another 
chapter.  Such  interchange  is  of  even  greater  value  be- 
tween large  reference  libraries,  and  it  is  taking  place 
with  increasing  frequency.  Through  its  means  scholars 
and  investigators  are  often  saved  long  journeys  to  dis- 
tant parts  of  the  country.  If  it  should  become  still 
more  common,  it  might  make  possible  and  desirable  a 
division  of  the  field  of  purchase,  in  certain  directions, 

74 


INTERLIBRARY  LOANS 

among  libraries  in  the  same  region,  similar  to  that 
which  is  taking  place  among  libraries  in  the  same  city. 
That  this  may  be,  however,  we  must  have  still  cheaper 
transmission  of  books  by  post. 

A  great  addition  to  the  facilities  offered  the  users 
of  reference  collections  is  to  be  found  in  the  various 
types  of  photo-copying  machines,  which,  with  little  ex- 
pert labor,  and  a  minimum  of  any  kind,  produce  in  a 
few  minutes  a  photographic  copy  of  a  plate,  a  map,  or 
a  page  of  a  book.  The  primary  print  is  a  negative — 
white  or  black  or  blue,  but  if  a  positive  is  desired  it 
may  be  obtained  by  subjecting  the  print  itself  to  a 
second  copying  process. 


CHAPTEK    VI 

THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  CHILD 

The  recognition  of  the  need  of  a  special  attitude  of 
the  library  toward  children  is  one  of  the  features  of  the 
''  modern  library  idea,"  and  one  that  has  been  most 
criticised  by  "  old-fashioned  "  librarians.  Some  of  its 
manifestations  in  American  public  libraries  are  ridi- 
culed by  our  English  critics  as  absurd  and  extravagant 
to  the  last  degree.  From  the  viewpoint  that  has  been 
termed  "  old-fashioned  "  in  this  book — namely,  the 
opinion  that  the  facilities  of  a  library  are  to  be  con- 
fined to  those  who  care  for  them  and  who  seek  them  vol- 
untarily— there  is,  of  course,  little  place  for  children  in 
any  library.  Children  would  not  think  of  seeking  a 
library  unless  some  pains  were  taken  to  tell  them  of  it 
and  to  show  them  how  they  might  derive  pleasure  and 
profit  from  it.  It  is  impossible,  however,  to  maintain 
the  "  old-fashioned  "  attitude  when  once  it  is  admitted 
that  a  library  is  part  of  our  educational  plant.  As  well 
might  we  open  the  schools  only  to  those  who  seek  them 
voluntarily.  This  attitude  is  defensible  in  the  higher, 
but  scarcely  in  primary  education.  In  the  training  of 
children,  guidance  and  control  are  necessary,  and  if  they 
are  to  benefit  by  our  libraries,  their  steps  must  be  di- 
rected toward  the  institution  and  their  use  of  it  must  be 
closely  overseen.  This  fact  became  recognized  in  some 
American  public  libraries  sooner  than  others,  but  before 

76 


HISTORY 

the  year  1890  there  seems  to  have  been  no  systematic 
effort  to  provide  library  facilities  especially  for  chil- 
dren. The  necessity  of  these  was  realized  in  the  Middle 
West  before  it  became  evident  in  the  East,  and  the  ad- 
vent of  the  children's  room,  in  its  present  form,  was 
also  greatly  hastened  by  the  adoption  of  the  open-shelf 
system.  In  some  of  the  older  libraries  the  existence  of 
books  written  especially  for  children  was  not  even  rec- 
ognized ;  adults  were  supplied  with  history,  science,  and 
)  fiction,  while  the  boy  or  girl  who  desired  to  read  a  chil- 
dren's story  was  forced  to  borrow  or  buy.  And  pur- 
chase, owing  to  the  slimness  of  children's  purses,  too 
often  meant  the  **  dime  novel." 

Special  effort  to  help  the  children  appeared  at  first 
in  at  least  four  forms — the  children's  corner,  the  sepa- 
rate children's  library,  the  children's  reading  room,  and 
the  children^jiDflm^as  at  present  administered.  When 
bcoks  for  children  were  first  introduced  into  closed-shelf 
libraries  no  special  method  of  treatment  was  necessary. 
Children  made  out  their  call  slips  like  the  adults  and 
presented  them  at  the  same  desk.  But  as  soon  as  the 
shelves  were  thrown  open  to  the  public,  matters  assumed 
a  somewhat  different  shape.  Juvenile  fiction  being  clas- 
sified and  shelved  by  itself,  the  children  were  somewhat 
segregated  from  the  other  users,  but,  as  their  nonficticn 
books  were  still  shelved  with  those  for  adults,  the  juve- 
nile users  were  more  or  less  scattered  about  the  shelves, 
where  they  interfered  to  some  extent  with  adult  users  cf 
the  library.  Complaints  led  to  the  natural  expedient  of 
removing  all  children 's  books  from  the  adult  shelves  and 
shelving  them  near  the  juvenile  fiction,  making  a  chil- 
dren's corner,  where  the  younger  readers  could  be  kept 
more  or  less  by  themselves.    The  next  step  was  the  pro- 

77 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  CHILD 

vision  of  a  separate  room,  or  at  least  of  a  separate  read- 
ing room,  for  children.  In  some  cases  the  experiment 
of  separate  children's  libraries  was  tried.  The  old  Fifth 
Street  branch  of  the  Aguilar  Free  Library,  in  New 
York,  was  such  a  library,  but  it,  like  most  others  of  its 
kind,  was  merged  in  a  branch  library  of  the  ordinary 
type  when  the  separation  of  the  children  from  the 
adults  in  such  a  library  became  sufficiently  marked. 
The  establishment  of  separate  children's  libraries  seems 
to  have  been  due,  in  some  cases,  to  unwillingness  to 
operate  an  open-shelf  children's  room  in  the  same  build- 
ing with  a  closed-shelf  library  for  adults.  Additional 
historical  material  regarding  children's  libraries  will 
be  found  in  Chapter  II.  It  is  interesting  to  see  how  the 
tendency  to  make  of  the  children's  department  a  prac- 
tically separate  library,  with  its  own  books,  circulation, 
catalogues,  statistics,  and  staff,  has  gradually  but  surely 
made  itself  felt.  In  very  many  cases  the  separation  has 
not  yet  become  completely  effective.  Even  where  the 
department  is  in  a  room  of  its  own,  books  may  be 
charged  and  discharged  at  the  main  desk,  or  they 
may  be  charged  in  the  children's  room  and  dis- 
charged at  the  main  desk.  Some  children's  rooms 
have  yet  no  separate  catalogue,  or  even  no  sepa- 
rate shelf  list  of  their  books;  in  some  all  the  activi- 
ties but  registration  are  separate,  and  this  is  carried  on 
at  the  main  registration  desk.  In  many  rooms  there  is 
no  separate  staff,  or  at  most  a  separate  assistant  in 
charge,  the  others  being  drafted  from  the  main  staff  or 
taken  in  rotation  from  that  staff. 

It  need  not  be  implied  that  incomplete  separation  is 
necessarily  objectionable ;  there  may  be  good  reasons  for 
it.     In  a  small  building,  especially  that  of  a  branch, 

78 


TYPES    OF   WORK 

where  the  children  occupy  one  end  and  the  adults  the 
other,  with  the  charging  desk  between  them,  this  one 
desk  may  be  quite  sufficient  for  all  purposes;  and  there 
may  also  be  justification  for  any  other  of  the  arrange- 
ments noted  above.  Yet  the  tendency,  as  has  been  said, 
is  undoubtedly  toward  separate  administration  in  all 
particulars,  and  especially  in  large  libraries  it  is  easy  to 
carry  it  out  completely. 

Of  course,  the  effort  to  remove  the  children  to  a 
place  where  they  will  cause  no  annoyance  to  the  adults 
has  been  only  one  cause  of  their  segregation,  though  it 
has  been  a  potent  one.  In  some  cases  it  seemed  the  only 
alternative  to  loss  of  the  entire  adult  circulation.  The 
children  drove  out  the  grown  people,  as  bad  money 
drives  out  good — although  perhaps  the  simile  is  inap- 
propriate. Children  usually  do  not  mind  noise  and 
crowding,  whereas  adults  are  apt  to  object  to  both; 
hence  the  inevitable  result. 

Another  potent  factor  has  been  closely  connected 
with  the  recognition  of  the  library  ^s  educational  func- 
tions. As  soon  as  the  desirability  of  supervising  chil- 
dren's reading  becomes  evident,  it  is  seen  at  once  that 
this  cannot  be  done  effectively  without  separation  and 
the  care  of  persons  trained  to  do  just  this  kind  of 
work. 

With  separation  has  come  more  or  less  subdivision  of 
activities.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that,  in  a  typical 
children's  department  of  an  American  public  library, 
some  or  all  of  the  following  kinds  *of  work  are  carried 
on:  (1)  Controlled  and  guided  circulation  of  books  for 
home  use;  (2)  use  of  books  and  periodicals  as  in  an  or- 
dinary reading  room;  (3)  reference  use  of  books,  largely 
in  connection  with  school  work;    (4)   work  with  very 

79 


THE    LIBRARY   AND    TllE    CHILD 

young  children,  chiefly  by  means  of  picture  books; 
(5)  exhibitions,  the  display  of  illustrated  bulletins,  etc., 
always  in  connection  with  courses  of  reading ;  ( 6 )  story- 
telling to  selected  groups. 

Taking  up  these  activities  one  by  one,  we  meet  first 
with  the  necessity  of  a  careful  selection  of  books  for  the 
children's  room.  Possibly  no  subject  connected  with 
the  administration  of  the  modern  library  has  given  rise 
to  more  controversy  than  this.  Opinions  with  regard  to 
it  have  varied  all  the  way  from  that  of  him  who  would 
include  everything  that  children  like  to  read,  provided 
only  its  moral  tendency  is  not  bad,  to  that  of  him  who 
would  exclude  all  that  possesses  no  literary  value.  Re- 
garding the  advisability  of  keeping  out  morally  bad 
books  there  have,  of  course,  been  no  two  opinions,  yet 
the  line  has  been  drawn  in  widely  different  places. 
Some  would  exclude,  for  instance,  such  books  as  ''  Tom 
Sawyer  ' '  and  ' '  Huckleberry  Finn  ' ' ;  some  object  to 
favorite  folk-tales  that  show  a  primitive  callousness  to 
human  suffering  or  are  told  with  what  seems  to  be  un- 
necessary coarseness ;  some  object  to  all  stories  of  war — 
and  so  on.  In  fact,  were  the  selector  of  children 's  books 
to  exclude  all  to  which  anyone  has  made  objection,  few 
titles  would  be  left.  A  wise  middle  course  has  been  fol- 
lowed in  most  cases,  and  we  have  some  excellent  lists  to 
serve  as  a  basis  for  selection.  If  these  may  be  criticised, 
it  is  probably  from  the  standpoint  of  those  who  regret 
that  they  are  not  more  often  made  out  by  men.  It  is 
doubtless  a  pity  that  the  masculine  point  of  view  has  not 
oftener  been  available  in  this  kind  of  selection.  The 
tendency,  however,  has  been  constantly  toward  greater 
refinement,  sanity,  and  wholesomeness,  toward  natural- 
ness and  simplicity  of  expression  and  away  from  sensa- 

80 


BOOK    SELECTION 

tionalism,  false  views  of  life,  vulgarity,  and  abnormality 
of  all  sorts.  This  tendency  is  doubtless  due  in  part  to 
feminine  influence,  and  if  it  has  in  some  cases  gone  too 
far,  no  great  harm  is  done.  It  must  not  be  forgotten, 
however,  that  the  library  is  only  one  channel  through 
which  the  public  obtains  its  reading  matter.  Librarians 
appear  to  think,  at  times,  that  their  selection  of  books 
controls  the  public  supply,  whereas  it  may  only  drive  the 
readers  to  other  sources.  If  the  exclusion  of  books  of  a 
given  type  from  the  children's  room  serves  only  to  mag- 
nify the  influence  of  books  purchased  or  borrowed — 
more  objectionable  specimens  of  the  same  type — the  ex- 
clusion, as  a  stroke  of  policy,  evidently  is  not  beyond 
criticism.  The  true  method  of  control  is  to  operate  on 
the  desires  of  the  reader.  If  the  child 's  taste  may  be  so 
cultivated  that  he  will  prefer  the  good  to  the  bad,  the 
natural  to  the  exaggerated,  the  wholesome  to  the  sensa- 
tional, the  hoped-for  result  has  been  achieved.  This  is 
what  is  done  by  the  properly  administered  children's 
room;  the  activities  of  the  assistant  who  has  such  a 
room  in  charge  are  thus  supplementary  to  those  of  the 
book  selector.  Neither  can  achieve  her  result  without 
the  other. 

The  number  of  books  on  the  shelves  of  the  room  is 
very  important.  No  circulation  responds  more  quickly 
to  an  increase  in  the  stock  than  that  of  the  children's 
room,  and  in  a  large  city  where  the  number  of  users  of 
such  a  room  is  great  it  may  be  difficult  for  the  supply 
to  keep  up  with  the  demand.  In  fact,  the  casual  ob- 
server often  makes  the  mistake  of  supposing  that  condi- 
tions are  more  satisfactory  in  a  room  where  the  shelves 
are  well  filled  than  in  one  where  they  are  empty.  The 
fact  may  be,  and  generally  is,  that  in  the  former  the 

81 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  CHILD 

selection  is  not  well  adapted  to  its  constituency,  with  a 
resulting  small  use;  while  in  the  latter  there  is  a  much 
larger,  but  well-selected  stock,  so  that  the  circulation  is 
great,  and  books  are  taken  out  again  as  soon  as  they 
come  in,  so  that  none  remain  on  the  shelves.  It  cannot 
be  pretended  that  this  is  a  satisfactory  state  of  affairs. 
Discipline,  the  quality  of  the  reading,  the  development 
of  a  real  interest  in  books,  all  go  on  better  with  plenty 
of  books  on  the  shelves;  but  it  is  far  preferable  to  the 
former. 

With  regard  to  methods  of  guiding  the  child's  read- 
ing, of  adapting  the  book  to  the  child  and  the  child  to 
the  book,  personal  contact  and  advice  is,  of  course,  the 
most  effective.  The  room  should  have  a  separate  cata- 
logue, especially  adapted  for  the  use  of  the  younger 
readers,  as  in  the  use  of  simplified  subject  headings; 
and  the  children  should  be  taught  its  meaning  and  value, 
and  encouraged  to  use  it.  Some  effort  should  be  made 
to  ascertain  the  bent  of  mind  and  also  the  intellectual 
needs  of  the  individual  child.  It  has  been  charged  that 
of  books  withdrawn  from  libraries  for  home  use  by  chil- 
dren many  are  not  read  at  all,  and  that  only  a  small  pro- 
portion of  the  remainder  are  read  intelligently.  There 
is  more  truth  in  this  charge  than  most  librarians  care  to 
admit,  and  the  remedy  lies  in  the  employment  of  intelli- 
gent and  effective  assistance  in  the  children's  room.  The 
disciplinary  side  of  the  work  is  also  of  great  importance ; 
it  is  not  necessary  to  keep  the  room  so  quiet  as  to  make 
it  distasteful  to  the  users,  but  quite  as  much  distaste 
will  result  from  a  lack  of  orderly  administration.  As- 
sistants who  "  are  fond  of  children  "  are  often  the  very 
worst  persons  to  do  work  in  a  children's  room.  She 
whose  influence  is  most  felt,  and  felt  in  the  best  direc- 

82 


GUIDANCE    OF    READING 

tion,  is  she  whose  authority,  while  gentle,  is  recognized 
and  obeyed. 

Home  use,  of  course,  is  only  one  of  the  ways  in 
which  the  books  in  a  children's  room  are  and  should  be 
used.  In  some  places  many  children  have  no  quiet  place 
to  read  in  their  cramped  homes,  and  it  may  be  desirable 
to  encourage  these  to  read  their  books  in  the  library.  As 
in  the  adult  reading  room,  certain  periodicals  are  often 
kept  for  reading  in  the  building  and  are  not  allowed  to 
circulate.  A  children's  reading  room  of  this  kind  may, 
in  a  small  library,  be  simply  the  space  inclosed  by  the 
shelved  walls;  in  a  larger  building  it  may  be  this  or  a 
separate  space,  in  which  case  it  may  be  administered  as 
a  room  within  or  without  the  charging  desk.  If  the 
former,  the  only  means  of  access  will  be  from  the  circu- 
lating space.  Readers  will  carry  thither  freely  books 
from  the  shelves,  and  will  charge  these  only  when  they 
wish  to  take  them  home,  in  which  case  they  must  evi- 
dently pass  the  charging  desk  to  get  out.  In  the  latter 
case,  there  will  be  no  access  from  the  circulating  space, 
but  only  from  the  lobby  outside.  No  books  from  the 
circulating  shelves  may  be  read  therein  without  first 
being  charged  to  th6  holder  at  the  desk,  although  some 
books,  not  for  home  use,  may  be  shelved  in  the  reading 
room.  Both  these  plans  have  their  advantages.  Some 
authorities  on  children's  rooms  object  to  the  use  of  any 
reading  space  that  is  not  within  the  charging  desk,  be- 
lieving that  its  surveillance  is  difficult,  but  there  are 
obvious  advantages  in  providing  a  place  that  may  be 
used  by  children  whose  books  have  already  been  charged, 
and  such  a  space  does  not  need  surveillance,  except  for 
keeping  order,  or  unless  books  are  shelved  in  it.  If  there 
is  a  reference  collection  of  any  size  for  the  children, 
7  83 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  CHILD 

especially  if  it  is  used  in  connection  Avith  their  school 
work,  it  will  preferably  be  placed  within  the  desk,  al- 
though it  may  go  in  an  outer  space  if  an  attendant  is 
always  present  to  care  for  it. 

The  fourth  class  of  work  listed  above,  namely,  work 
with  very  young  children,  will  also  naturally  be  done  in- 
side the  desk.  Before  children  were  recognized  as  a  sep- 
arate class  to  be  dealt  with  by  the  library  somewhat  dif- 
ferently from  adults,  it  was  common  for  libraries  to 
have  an  ''  age  limit  "—that  is,  cards  were  issued  only  to 
children  above  a  specified  age,  usually  ten  to  twelve 
years.  The  idea,  of  course,  was  that  children  below  this 
age  were  not  competent  to  take  advantage  of  the  facili- 
ties offered  by  the  library.  But  with  the  introduction 
of  children 's  rooms  it  was  realized  that  no  hard-and-fast 
line  of  this  sort  may  be  drawn  with  advantage.  Many 
children  of  eight  are  able  to  read  and  profit  by  books, 
while  many  of  thirteen  are  scarcely  competent  to  do  so. 
Besides  this,  if  the  library  is  to  guide  the  child's  read- 
ing, it  is  desirable  that  he  should  as  early  as  possible 
fall  into  the  habit  of  visiting  the  library,  and  should 
become  accustomed  to  being  governed  somewhat  by  the 
librarian's  advice  in  the  choice  of  books.  It  is,  of 
course,  inexpedient  to  issue  books  for  reading  to  chil- 
dren who  cannot  read,  but  if  the  library  has  good  col- 
ored-picture books  for  circulation,  very  young  children 
may  properly  hold  cards.  In  the  New  York  Public  Li- 
brary every  children's  room  has  a  carefully  chosen  col- 
lection of  colored-picture  books  for  young  children, 
which  is  not  allowed  to  circulate.  Sometimes  these  are 
shown  to  the  children  only  at  stated  intervals.  They  are 
selected  with  care  for  the  excellence  of  the  illustrations, 
which  are  by  artists  of  merit,  such  as  Boutet  de  Monvel, 

84 


PICTURE    BULLETINS 

Walter  Crane,  and  Howard  Pyle.  Besides  this  collec- 
tion, there  are  usually  also  picture  books  for  circulation 
among  those  too  young  to  read. 

Children  very  commonly  bring  with  them  to  the  li- 
brary their  younger  brothers  and  sisters.  Sometimes 
these  have  been  intrusted  to  their  care,  and  they  cannct 
leave  them  if  they  would.  To  see  these  little  ones  sit- 
ting disconsolately  on  benches  in  the  lobby,  looking  with 
wistful  eyes  at  the  treasures  in  which  they  are  not  al- 
lowed to  share,  is  a  sight  that  should  soften  the  heart  of 
any  library  trustee  so  obdurate  as  to  keep  the  "  age 
limit  ' '  on  his  list  of  rules  and  regulations.  Brains  have 
no  definite  age  limit;  neither  should  the  library. 

The  display  of  pictures  or  illustrated  objects  in  a 
children's  room  may  take  place  in  several  different  ways. 
It  may  be  freely  granted,  in  the  first  place,  that  a  chil- 
dren's room  is  neither  an  art  gallery  nor  a  museum,  and 
that  it  may  not  properly  be  turned  into  either.  At  the 
same  time  pictures  and  objects  may  both  stimulate  the 
interest  of  children  in  certain  subjects  and  direct  their 
attention  in  desired  directions.  It  may  be  laid  down  as 
a  fairly  hard-and-fast  rule  that  all  such  exhibitions  are 
best  when  temporary.  This  applies  even  to  wall  pic- 
tures for  purely  decorative  purposes,  which  are  specially 
treated  in  another  chapter.  The  Japanese  have  the  right 
idea ;  too  many  pictures  distract  the  mind,  and  the  long 
continuance  of  any  one  of  them  in  view  dulls  its  effect. 

Our  old  friend  the  picture  bulletin  first  demands  at- 
tention. It  has  been  condemned  of  late  because  its 
manufacture  takes  valuable  time  better  spent  in  other 
work.  There  is  no  doubt  that  much  time  has  been  spent 
uselessly  on  picture  bulletins.  Unless  the  maker  is  an 
artist,  attempts  to  produce  art  effects  are  apt  to  result 

85 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  CHILD 

somewhat  sadly.  The  best  bulletins  are  those  that  are 
simple  and  easily  made.  I  have  seen  an  exquisite  bul- 
letin on  lace,  traced  out  with  white  ink  on  a  background 
of  black  Bristol  board.  It  must  have  occupied  many 
days  in  the  making,  but  an  equally  good  effect  could 
have  been  produced  by  simply  pasting  cheap  lace  on 
the  board  at  an  expense  of  a  few  cents  in  money  and 
of  a  few  minutes  of  time.  These  bulletins  should  be 
what  their  name  implies — lists  of  books,  with  illustra- 
tions intended  to  draw  attention  to  the  lists.  The  illus- 
trations must  be  striking,  so  as  to  arrest  the  attention, 
but  especial  pains  should  be  taken  with  the  list  itself 
and  with  the  manner  of  its  presentation.  Bulletins  are 
frequently  seen  whose  lists  are  illegible,  or  ill-consid- 
ered, or  altogether  absent,  where  great  pains  have  been 
taken  with  the  pictures. 

It  must  not  be  thought  that  artistic  bulletins  in 
whose  production  much  time  has  been  consumed,  with 
a  good  result,  are  to  be  condemned  per  se.  Such  are 
sometimes  made  by  volunteers  of  artistic  ability  and  are 
well  worth  using.  But  it  is  rarely  worth  while  for 
them  to  be  made  in  library  hours  by  an  assistant. 

Both  illustrated  bulletins  and  collections  of  prints, 
whether  to  mark  a  particular  event  or  anniversary  or 
simply  to  stimulate  general  interest  in  some  one  line  of 
reading,  should  be  frequently  replaced.  In  libraries 
having  systems  of  branches  such  exhibitions  may  travel 
from  branch  to  branch.  The  same  is  true  of  museum 
exhibits.  Collections  of  random  curiosities  do  little 
good.  In  small  town  libraries,  in  places  where  there  is 
no  local  museum,  permanent  collections  of  local  miner- 
als, insects,  or  birds  may  be  installed  to  advantage  if 
there  is  room  for  them,  but  generally  temporary  shows 

86 


EXHIBITIONS 

on  some  limited  subject  are  best.  These  may  be  held  in 
connection  with  exhibitions  of  pictures  on  the  same  sub- 
ject, and  may  be  emphasized  with  story  hours.  Such 
exhibitions  may  be  gathered  in  various  ways,  or  may  be 
borrowed  whole  from  industrial  concerns  or  from  the 
larger  museums,  where  such  exist  in  the  same  city  as 
the  library.  Loan  collections  of  this  kind  have  been 
sent  to  various  branches  of  the  New  York  Public  Li- 
brary by  the  Museum  of  Natural  History  for  several 
years.  To  illustrate  the  possibilities,  special  mention 
may  be  made  of  an  Arctic  exhibition  lent  by  this  insti- 
tution to  several  branches.  This  consisted  of  all  sorts  of 
real  Eskimo  utensils  and  articles  of  dress,  with  two 
artistically  stuffed  polar-bear  cubs,  a  beautiful  fur 
dress,  and  the  actual  sledge  made  by  Lieutenant  Peary 
for  his  "  snow  baby,"  together  with  many  Arctic  pho- 
tographs. At  intervals  Arctic  stories  (Northern  ex- 
ploration and  Eskimo  legends)  were  told  to  selected 
groups  of  children,  and  one  of  the  assistants,  dressed 
in  the  fur  suit,  served  as  an  additional  *'  exhibit."  All 
this,  it  will  be  noted,  comes  pretty  close  to  the  kind  of 
work  that  is  characterized  as  absurd  by  our  British 
friends.  Yet  the  result  was  to  arouse  the  greatest  in- 
terest in  the  Arctic  regions  among  the  children  in  the 
neighborhood  (mostly  Irish  and  Italians),  and  the  cir- 
culation of  books  on  Arctic  exploration  became  very 
large.  Probably  this  result,  which  can  scarcely  fail  to 
have  a  permanent  educational  effect  in  the  localities 
where  the  exhibition  was  shown,  could  have  been 
achieved  in  no  other  way. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  actual  book  was  not  ob- 
truded in  this  case.  It  is  quite  true  that  such  exhibi- 
tions have  no  reason  for  being  unless  they  lead  to  the 

87 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  CHILD 

book;  but  they  may  lead  to  it  more  effectively  if  the 
connection  is  not.  forced.  At  lectures  held  by  the  Board 
of  Education  in  New  York  City  libraries  the  library  in 
each  case  remains  open  for  a  half  hour  after  the  lec- 
ture, and  the  lecturer  announces  to  his  audience  that 
books  on  the  subject  of  the  lecture  may  be  obtained  at 
its  close.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  these  lectures 
stimulate  the  circulation  of  books  on  their  subjects  and 
on  others  related  to  them;  yet  the  immediate  post-lec- 
ture circulation  has  been  almost  nil.  Rarely  are  more 
than  two  or  three  volumes  taken  out  in  this  way  at  any 
particular  lecture,  and  sometimes  weeks  pass  without 
the  lending  of  a  single  one.  The  library  should  have  a 
plentiful  supply  of  books  likely  to  be  called  for  under 
the  stimulus  of  an  exhibition  or  a  lecture;  but  to  hand 
out  the  book  directly  is  as  apt  to  repel  the  spectator  or 
hearer  as  it  is  to  please  or  satisfy  him. 

This  is  true  also  of  story-telling.  The  object  of  the 
story  in  a  library  is,  of  course,  to  stimulate  interest  in 
books,  but  it  may  do  this  in  various  ways  without  ad- 
vertising any  particular  book  or  seeming  to  force  it 
upon  the  reader.  A  good  story  acts  by  creating  a  de- 
sire, and  when  this  effect  has  once  been  produced  noth- 
ing more  is  necessary  but  a  supply  of  books  that  will 
satisfy  the  desire.  Often  a  series  of  stories  does  noth- 
ing more  tha-n  to  create  an  atmosphere  in  which  it  is 
easier  to  guide  the  children  to  good  books.  Often  such 
a  series  stimulates  interest  in  a  subject,  or,  again,  in  a 
new  author,  serving  as  an  introduction  to  the  works  of 
some  one  with  whom  the  children  have  been  hitherto 
unfamiliar. 

The  exact  role  pf  story-telling  in  a  library  has  been 
the  subject  of  much  controversy;  it  is  even  considered 


STORY    HOURS 

by  some  authorities  as  a  waste  of  time,  if-  not  entirely 
out  of  place.  Doubtless  stories,  as  they  have  been  told 
in  some  libraries,  merit  these  criticisms;  yet  there  ap- 
pears to  be  no  doubt  that  in  the  hands  of  competent 
persons  and  under  proper  direction  they  may  be  an  effi- 
cient aid  in  carrying  on  the  activities  of  the  modern 
children's  room. 

The  selection  of  the  group  to  which  the  story  is  to 
be  told,  and  the  choosing  of  the  proper  tales  to  be  used 
with  each  group,  are  both  of  importance.  The  group 
should  not  be  too  large  (twenty  to  forty),  and  its  selec- 
tion thus  becomes  a  matter  of  necessity.  To  make  at- 
tendance a  reward  of  merit  for  good  behavior  in  the 
library,  the  absence  of  fines,  etc.,  is  not  good  policy. 
Neither  is  the  plan  of  ''  first  come,  first  served."  The 
best  way  is  for  the  librarian  to  pick  out  those  children 
that,  in  her  opinion,  will  most  appreciate  the  story  to 
be  told  and  benefit  by  it.  Evidently  the  members  of  a 
group  will  be  nearly  of  an  age  and  of  about  the  same 
school  grade.  It  will  often  be  satisfactory  to  leave  the 
selection  to  a  teacher,  especially  if  the  cycle  of  stories  to 
be  told  has  any  relationship  to  the  school  work. 

The  success  of  a  story  hour  depends  more  than  any- 
thing else,  of  course,  upon  the  personality  and  ability 
of  the  teller.  Not  everyone  can  tell  a  story,  and  belief 
in  one's  own  gifts  as  a  raconteur ^  either  to  adults  or  to 
children,  is  by  no  means  an  evidence  of  the  possession 
of  such  gifts. 

Certain  objections  to  the  provision  of  separate  quar- 
ters for  children  in  libraries  are  legitimate  and  deserve 
consideration.  The  assertion  that  the  whole  movement 
is  abnormal  and  a  "  fad  "  can  scarcely  be  substanti- 
ated by  citation  of  some  foolish  or  trivial  things  that 

89 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  CHILD 

have  been  done  in  its  name.  AVe  shall  not  mention  this 
further,  but  go  on  to  some  of  the  real  disadvantages  of 
work  with  children  as  it  is  now  carried  on  in  American 
public  libraries.  First  of  all,  anything  that  is  done 
for  the  child,  as  a  child,  without  explicit  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  childhood  is  temporary  and  only  a  prep- 
aration for  the  permanent  or  adult  stage  requires  very 
careful  scrutiny.  All  who  have  dealt  for  years  with 
children  of  the  same  age  find  it  difficult  to  avoid  think- 
ing of  children  as  a  race  apart.  The  ripple  near  the 
stone  in  the  stream  looks  steady  and  permanent,  though 
it  is  made  up  at  every  instant  of  different  particles  of 
water  flowing  swiftly  past.  Are  we  forgetting,  in  our 
children's  rooms,  that  the  child  of  to-day  is  to  be  the 
man  or  woman  of  to-morrow?  Do  not  literature  for 
children  and  exhibitions  and  stories  for  children  tend 
to  prevent  instead  of  to  facilitate  their  passage  to  the 
adult  stage!  This  is  a  serious  question;  but  to  under- 
stand it  and  appreciate  its  seriousness  is  to  answer  it 
satisfactorily.  Doubtless  the  growing  child  will  derive 
more  benefit  from  an  open-shelf  adult  library  than 
from  a  children's  room  containing  nothing  but  books 
for  the  very  young;  but  it  is  quite  possible  to  include 
in  the  collection  for  children  those  adult  books  that  are 
most  desirable  for  them  to  read.  Judicious  recogni- 
tion of  the  needs  and  desires  of  children  who  are  pass- 
ing out  of  childhood  is  a  desideratum  in  the  children's 
room,  and  the  modern  library,  it  is  safe  to  say,  is  pretty 
uniformly  taking  this  into  account. 

Again:  Is  there  not  too  much  supervision  of  the 
children  in  our  libraries?  Is  it  not  better  to  leave  the 
child  to  discover  something  for  himself  than  always  to 
point  it  out  to  him  ?    Now,  there  are  no  intellectual  joys 

90 


OBJECTIONS 

equal  to  those  of  discovery.  The  boy  or  girl  who  stum- 
bles on  one  of  the  world's  masterpieces,  without  know- 
ing what  anyone  else  thinks  or  has  thought  about  it, 
and  reading  it,  admires  and  loves  it,  will  have  that 
book  throughout  life  as  a  peculiar  intellectual  posses- 
sion in  a  way  that  would  have  been  impossible  if  some 
one  had  advised  reading  it  and  had  described  it  as  a 
masterpiece.  Nay,  the  very  fact  that  one  is  advised  to 
read  a  book  because  one  ought  to  do  so  is  apt  to  arouse 
the  same  feeling  of  repulsion  that  caused  the  Athenian 
citizen  to  vote  for  the  banishment  of  Aristides  just  be- 
cause he  had  become  so  weary  of  hearing  him  always 
called  *'  The  Just."  This,  too,  is  a  solid  objection; 
but,  like  the  other,  it  applies  rather  to  ill-managed  than 
to  properly  equipped  rooms  for  children.  In  order  to 
experience  the  joys  of  discovery  it  is  not  positively  nec- 
essary that  the  discoverer  should  happen  upon  what  he 
finds  quite  by  accident.  The  friend  who  advises  me  to 
walk  down  a  certain  path,  knowing  that  in  an  hour's 
time  the  glories  of  a  sublime  mountain  view  will  burst 
suddenly  upon  me,  has  prepared  for  me  a  pleasure 
quite  as  exquisite  as  I  should  have  experienced  had  I 
chosen  my  walk  at  haphazard.  We  may  thus  prepare 
literary  surprises  for  our  children ;  and  we  should  do  so 
in  our  libraries  if  we  are  not  to  deprive  them  of  the 
sweetest  of  intellectual  joys.  The  well-managed  chil- 
dren's room,  with  plenty  of  books  on  its  shelves,  will 
give  its  users  the  opportunity  of  **  browsing  "  and  of 
making  discoveries  of  just  this  kind. 

Quite  a  different  objection  is  sometimes  heard  from 
the  teacher.  The  library,  it  is  said,  interferes  with  the 
work  of  the  school  by  giving  the  child  something  besides 
his  lesson  to  occupy  his  mind.    Recreation,  of  course,  is 

91 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  CHILD 

needed,  but  his  recreation  should  be  largely  physical, 
while  the  library  tempts  the  child  to  use  his  eyes  in 
reading,  and  his  mind  in  assimilating  what  he  reads,  at 
times  when  he  should  be  playing  outdoors.  I  have 
known  a  teacher  to  send  an  earnest  request  to  a  neigh- 
boring library  to  close  its  children's  room  at  the  noon 
hour  for  this  reason. 

Now  w^e  have  here  a  very  cogent  reason  for  close  co- 
operation between  library  and  school,  but  not  one  for 
discontinuing  the  use  of  the  former  by  children  who  at- 
tend the  latter.  In  the  first  place,  children  do  need 
intellectual  as  well  as  physical  recreation.  These  should 
be  properly  proportioned,  but  neither  can  be  spared. 
For  children  of  school  age,  the  number  of  recreative 
books  that  may  be  withdrawn  for  reading  in  a  given 
period  may  well  be  limited  by  the  library,  after  consulta- 
tion with  teacher  and  parent ;  possibly  also  the  length  of 
time  in  which  the  school  child  may  remain  daily  in  the 
library  building  may  be  limited;  but  the  idea  that  the 
proper  use  of  a  library  will  interfere  in  any  way  with 
the  proper  development  of  a  child's  mind  through 
formal  educative  processes  is  not  only  an  error,  but  a 
dangerous  one. 

Perhaps  this  is  the  point  to  introduce  the  idea,  which 
will  possibly  be  new  to  some,  that  ' '  work  in  a  children 's 
room  "  and  "  work  with  children  "  are  not  necessarily 
the  same  thing.  A  large  library  does  a  considerable  part 
of  its  work  with  children  outside  of  the  rooms  that  it 
provides  for  this  purpose.  It  sends  out  books  to  the 
schools  and  it  provides  collections  for  deposit  stations. 
All  of  the  former  and  a  normal  proportion  of  the  latter 
are  used  by  children.  Children  also  have  access  to  most 
of  the  books  that  are  carried  home  by  adults,  and  doubt- 

92 


DISCIPLINE 

less  read  many  of  them.  What  we  do  in  our  children's 
rooms,  therefore,  does  not  represent  the  sum  total  of  the 
library's  "  work  with  children."  It  does,  however,  in- 
clude all  that  is  done  formally;  and  if  the  children's 
librarian  does  not  lose  sight  of  the  two  facts  that  the 
children  have  access  to  other  library  books  than  hers, 
and  that  many  of  them  have  access  to  books  entirely  out- 
side of  the  library  and  apart  from  its  influence,  she  will 
do  her  work  with  more  insight  and  will  accomplish  bet- 
ter results. 

Nothing,  so  far,  has  been  said  of  the  discipline  of 
the  room  or  of  its  methods;  and  it  is  just  as  well 
not  to  press  this  point.  Discipline  must,  of  course,  be 
maintained,- though  it  need  not,  and  ought  not,  to  be  the 
discipline  of  the  schoolroom.  A  certain  amount  of  noise 
is  inevitable,  and  is  unobjectionable,  provided  it  is  "  li- 
brary noise  " — that  is,  noise  due  to  activity  connected 
with  the  charging  and  discharging  of  books,  the  selection 
of  books  from  the  shelves,  or  even  the  occasional  ex- 
change of  remarks  and  criticism — not  the  din  of  aim- 
less rambling  about  or  of  desultory  conversation  on 
outside  topics.  The  danger  that  adult  readers  may  be 
annoyed  by  this  "  library  noise  "  is  a  good  argument 
for  placing  the  children's  room  on  a  separate  floor  or,  at 
any  rate,  for  surrounding  it  with  sound-proof  partitions. 

Probably  the  greatest  aid  to  discipline  in  the  library 
and  to  securing  the  proper  care  of  the  books  at  home  is 
the  instilling  of  a  spirit  of  ownership  and  responsibility 
into  the  children.  This  may  be  done  in  numerous  ways. 
One  of  the  most  effective  is  the  plan  of  "  self -registra- 
tion," by  which  the  children  themselves  write  their 
names  on  the  pages  of  the  registry  book,  under  a  simply 
worded  pledge  to  keep  the  rules  of  the  library  and  take 

93 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  CHILD 

care  of  its  property.  This  pledge  is  read  over  aloud  by 
each  child  before  signing,  and  the  little  formality  often 
has  a  wonderful  effect.  Similar  results  have  been 
sought,  and  often  attained,  by  the  formation  of  so-called 
' '  library  leagues, ' '  whose  members  sign  a  similar  pledge 
and  wear  an  appropriate  badge.  The  formation  of 
leagues,  clubs,  and  societies  among  the  children,  however, 
needs  careful  supervision.  Very  successful  boys'  and 
girls'  literary  clubs  have  often  been  organized  in  con- 
nection with  children's  rooms,  and  have  done  much  to 
arouse  and  sustain  interest  in  good  reading;  but  they 
need  the  sort  of  control  that  is  effective  rather  than  evi- 
dent, and  no  librarian  who  has  not  both  the  ability  and 
the  time  to  exercise  this  sort  of  guidance  should  try  the 
experiment. 

As  for  the  shape,  position,  and  equipment  of  the  chil- 
dren's  room,  these  will,  of  course,  vary  with  the  size  of 
the  library,  the  conditions  under  which  it  is  working, 
and  the  theory  on  which  it  is  administered,  as  indicated 
in  various  preceding  sections  of  this  chapter.  The  shelv- 
ing should  be  confined  to  the  walls  if  possible ;  formality 
should  be  avoided  and  a  homelike  and  cozy  look  culti- 
vated. A  fireplace  is  an  effective  aid  in  this  direction. 
In  a  small  room  an  ordinary  flat-top  desk  may  be  suffi- 
cient for  the  charging  and  discharging  of  books;  in  a 
large  room  operated  on  the  plan  of  complete  separation 
the  adult  charging  desk  may  be  duplicated,  with  all  its 
appliances,  including  those  for  registration.  Where  the 
children  are  numerous  and  inclined  to  be  unruly,  the 
space  within  the  desk  may  be  separated  from  the  lobby 
without  by  glass  partitions  sufficiently  high  to  prevent 
the  handing  over  of  books.  In  many  rooms  this  precau- 
tion is  unnecessary. 

94 


CHAPTEK  VII 

THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

If  the  public  library  is  an  integral  part  of  public 
education,  its  relations  with  the  school  must  evidently  be 
close.  Too  close  an  administrative  connection,  however, 
has  not  been  beneficial  to  the  library.  In  many  towns 
the  public  library  is  a  component  part  of  the  local  edu- 
cational system,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Board  of 
Education.  In  some  places  this  plan  seems  to  have 
worked  well,  but  it  has  generally  been  found  that  when 
the  control  of  a  public  library  is  vested  in  a  body  cre- 
ated originally  for  another  purpose  it  is  regarded  as  of 
secondary  importance  and  its  development  is  retarded. 
It  is  better  that  the  library  should  have  its  own  board 
of  trustees,  and  that  tlie  two  institutions  should  cooper- 
ate in  the  freest  manner.  Such  mutual  aid  is,  of  course, 
founded  on  the  fact  that  the  educational  work  of  both 
school  and  library  is  carried  on  largely  by  means  of 
books.  That  of  the  school  is  formal,  compulsory,  and 
limited  in  time;  that  of  the  library  is  informal,  volun- 
tary, and  practically  unlimited.  It  is  greatly  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  scholar,  and  of  those  informal  processes 
of  training  that  are  going  on  constantly  during  life 
whether  he  wills  it  or  not,  that  he  should  form  the  habit 
of  consulting  and  using  books  outside  of  the  school. 
When  books  are  thought  of  merely  as  school  implements 
their  use  is  naturally  abandoned  when  school  days  are 
over. 

95 


THE    LIBRARY   AND    THE    SCHOOL 

Every  educational  institution  should,  of  course,  have 
a  library  of  its  own,  for  its  own  purposes.  Every  pri- 
mary and  grammar  class,  as  truly  and  properly  as  every 
great  university,  ought  to  have  its  collection  of  books. 
But  if  this  collection  be  expanded  to  its  widest  possible 
limits,  it  will  inevitably  be  found  that  duplication  of 
the  work  of  the  public  library  is  going  on.  Here  arises 
the  first  necessity  for  an  agreement  between  the  two  in- 
stitutions regarding  the  limits  of  their  respective  spheres. 
Libraries  have  generally  looked  upon  the  plan  adopted 
in  the  city  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  as  most  satisfactory.  Here 
school  and  class-room  libraries  are  furnished  by  the 
Public  Library,  the  work  of  the  grade  being  consid- 
ered in  selection,  but  care  being  taken  to  include  imag- 
inative literature  and  other  valuable  and  attractive 
books  on  subjects  that  the  curriculum  does  not  touch. 
The  Board  of  Education  furnishes  sets  of  books,  other 
than  readers,  for  class-room  reading,  besides  the  ordi- 
nary free  text  books  in  reading.  This  makes  the  school 
a  library  deposit  station  or  point  of  distribution,  so  far 
as  its  own  scholars  are  concerned.  In  some  cities  this 
Buffalo  plan  has  been  modified  or  adopted  only  par- 
tially or  temporarily ;  but  as  a  proper  division  of  labor 
between  school  and  library  it  is  probably  unsurpassed. 

Of  course,  the  lending  of  collections  of  books  or 
traveling  libraries  by  library  to  school  or  class  is  only 
one  of  innumerable  ways  in  which  the  library  may  give 
needed  aid.  In  the  New  York  Public  Library  a  special 
department,  under  a  supervisor  of  work  with  schools, 
has  been  organized  to  care  for  these  other  activities, 
and  perhaps  they  may  best  be  set  forth  by  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  work  of  this  particular  department. 

In  the  first  place,  the  city  is  divided  into  districts  for 
96 


SCHOOL    DEPARTMENTS 

the  purposes  of  the  work,  each  district  containing  one 
branch  library  and  a  number  of  schools,  varying  from 
one  to  twenty-three,  according  to  the  size  and  location  of 
the  region.  In  each  library  the  school  work  is  assigned 
to  a  special  assistant,  whose  business  it  is  to  become  per- 
sonally acquainted  with  every  teacher  in  the  schools  of 
her  district.  She  visits  these  schools  from  time  to  time, 
and  she  is  at  the  special  disposal  of  teachers  who  visit 
the  library,  giving  them  such  information  and  aid  as 
they  may  require.  To  this  "  school  assistant  ''  the 
teachers  are  encouraged  to  look  in  all  cases  of  dispute 
regarding  library  rules  and  whenever  there  is  friction  at 
a  point  of  contact. 

In  every  public  school,  by  special  permission  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  and  in  many  private  and  corporate 
schools,  is  placed  a  library  bulletin  board,  which  is  used 
exclusively  for  posting  library  information.  It  directs 
teachers  and  scholars  to  the  nearest  branch  library, 
which  they  are  advised  to  use ;  states  clearly  the  library 
rules,  and  defines  the  privileges  offered  to  teachers  and 
pupils,  including  the  special  card,  on  which  an  unlim- 
ited number  of  books  for  study  may  be  drawn  for  six 
months.  On  it  are  posted  from  time  to  time  special  lists 
of  books — either  those  sent  out  systematically  from 
headquarters  or  those  compiled  by  the  school  assistant 
for  some  particular  class  or  teacher. 

Assistants  in  the  library,  selected  for  their  ability  to 
address  an  audience,  speak  at  intervals,  both  before 
groups  of  teachers  and  at  the  regular  school  assemblies, 
explaining  at  both  the  functions  and  facilities  of  the 
Public  Library  and  its  readiness  to  aid  both  teacher 
and  pupil.  To  this  end  teachers  are  encouraged  to  sub- 
mit lists  of  books  for  purchase,  not  only  for  their  own 

97 


THE  LIBRARY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

professional  use,  but  supplementary  reading  for  their 
classes.  An  adequate  sum  of  money  is  expended  an- 
nually for  such  purposes.  Again,  a  specialty  is  made 
of  pedagogical  periodicals  not  only  in  English,  but  in 
foreign  languages,  a  very  full  set  of  these  being  located 
at  certain  branches  and  partial  sets  at  all  the  others. 
Teachers  are  encouraged,  if  they  show  willingness  to  do 
so,  to  take  library  books  into  their  lectures  or  recita- 
tions and  show  them  to  the  pupils  as  part  of  the 
exercise. 

Teachers  in  the  lower  grades  are  asked  to  bring  their 
classes  into  the  nearest  library  at  stated  intervals,  either 
for  instruction  on  some  subject,  with  the  aid  of  books 
specially  grouped  to  this  end,  or  to  see  an  exhibition  of 
pictures  or  industrial  objects,  or,  again,  to  be  taught 
necessary  things  about  the  use  of  the  library — the  chief 
reference  books  and  what  may  be  learned  from  them, 
the  classification  and  arrangement  of  volumes  on  the 
shelves,  the  value  of  the  card  catalogue,  and  so  on. 

At  this  writing  (1917)  the  so-called  "Grary  plan," 
providing  for  the  alternation  of  classes  between  school, 
playground,  shop  and  library  is  being  experimented 
with  in  New  York,  and  while  it  will  doubtless  require 
modifications,  it  may  result  in  vital  changes. 

Children  are  allowed,  and  even  urged,  to  prepare 
their  lessons  in  the  library,  especially  in  parts  of  the  city 
where  their  homes  are  not  generally  suited  for  study.  A 
reference  library  of  50  to  800  volumes  is  installed  in  the 
children's  room  of  each  branch  for  this  purpose.  The 
presence  of  such  a  collection  of  books  has  a  stimulating 
effect  on  the  use  of  the  library  by  children  for  study 
purposes,  as  is  clearly  shown  by  the  comparative  statis- 
tics. 


MODEL  COLLECTION 

A  measure  of  cooperation,  carried  out  with  success 
in  many  places,  is  the  collection  and  distribution  of 
prints  for  school  use.  These  are  gathered  from  all  pos- 
sible sources,  are  sorted  by  subjects  and  filed  in  access- 
ible portfolios,  or  in  large  envelopes,  so  that  the 
teacher  who  desires  a  collection  of  pictures  to  illustrate 
a  geography  lesson  on  the  Philippines,  a  talk  on  the 
turbine  engine,  or  a  recitation  on  the  England  of  Eliza- 
beth, has  but  to  send  to  the  public  library. 

In  connection  with  school  work,  a  model  school  col- 
lection of  books  is  invaluable.  Arrangement  by  grades 
greatly  facilitates  selection  by  teachers,  and  a  collec- 
tion of  actual  books  is  preferable  to  a  mere  catalogue, 
although  graded  lists  may  do  good  service.  The  books, 
of  course,  do  not  circulate. 

The  use  of  books  in  city  playgrounds  may  be  men- 
tioned here,  although  these  grounds  are  not  always  un- 
der the  control  of  the  school  authorities.  In  many  places 
the  public  library  keeps  a  deposit  collection  in  each 
playground  and  sends  an  assistant  at  intervals  to  give 
out  the  books  and  to  tell  stories.  In  1916  St.  Louis  be- 
gan to  use  a  "book-wagon"  for  playgrounds. 

Such  a  broad  division  of  work  as  the  educational  has, 
of  course,  its  points  of  contact  with  many  other  divisions, 
and  these  are  treated  differently  in  different  libraries. 
Two  especially  overlap  with  it — the  work  of  traveling 
libraries  and  that  with  children.  In  a  small  institution 
one  department  may  well  care  for  all  three.  Even  in  a 
large  library,  the  school  traveling  libraries,  or  perhaps 
all  of  them,  may  be  sent  out  under  the  care  of  the  same 
officer  who  oversees  work  with  schools;  or,  again,  this 
work  may  be  under  the  superintendence  of  the  chil- 
dren's librarian. 

8  99 


THE    LIBRARY    AND    THE    SCHOOL 

A  complaint  often  heard  from  teachers  is  that  the  ex- 
cessive use  of  a  public  library  by  school  children  in  term 
time  interferes  with  their  school  duties.  This  complaint 
is  often  well  founded,  and  it  is  met  in  many  libraries, 
after  a  frank  conference  with  the  teachers  on  the  needs 
of  the  situation,  by  limiting  the  use  of  the  children's 
room,  generally,  by  a  rule  that  in  term  time  only  two 
books,  or  perhaps  one  book,  may  be  borrowed  weekly. 
In  some  cases  there  has  even  been  a  demand  that  the 
children's  room  be  closed  at  certain  times;  for  instance, 
at  the  noon  hour,  when  it  is  better  for  them  to  play  in 
the  open  air  than  to  read.  The  desirability  of  compli- 
ance with  such  a  request  seems  doubtful. 

In  what  has  been  said  it  has  been  generally  assumed 
that  the  schools  with  which  the  public  library  is  to  coop- 
erate are  the  public  schools,  and  cooperation  is  thus  sim- 
ply an  alliance  of  two  public  bodies  working  toward  the 
same  end.  But  the  same  aid  may  be  extended  to  and  re- 
ceived from  private  schools,  whether  they  are  systems 
under  corporate  management,  like  the  schools  of  the  Chil- 
dren's Aid  Society  in  New  York,  or  absolutely  inde- 
pendent institutions.  Privileges  extended  to  teachers 
may  even  be  given  to  teachers  of  languages  or  of  music, 
for  instance,  who  do  not  conduct  schools,  or  even  classes, 
but  give  only  private  lessons.  It  is  hard  to  draw  a  line, 
and  probably  nothing  is  gained  by  so  doing.  It  is  only 
when  private  teachers  desire  to  utilize  library  facilities 
in  some  way  to  advertise  their  classes,  as  is  not  infre- 
quently done,  that  it  becomes  a  public  duty  to  refuse. 
Regarding  the  advertisement  of  educational  enterprises, 
as  by  the  display  of  posters  or  the  distribution  of  cards 
in  the  library,  a  rule  with  which  no  one  can  find  fault 
is  that  all  such  concerns  as  offer  their  courses  free  to  the 

100 


SUNDAY    J5(i!lrd6iiS . 

public  may  properly  be  aidtd  in  thife; way,. t/ut  that  when 
a  fee  is  charged,  in  whatever  guise,  no  library  publicity 
may  be  given,  no  matter  how  excellent  the  material  nor 
how  small  the  payment  required,  even  if  it  be  merely 
nominal.  The  line  between  "  nothing  "  and  *'  some- 
thing "  is  easily  drawn;  there  is  less  logical  justification 
for  locating  it  anywhere  between  two  ' '  somethings. ' ' 

A  class  of  library  that  has  been  or,  at  any  rate, 
should  be  greatly  modified  by  the  rise  and  extension  of 
the  free  public  circulating  collection  is  the  Sunday-school 
library.  Originally  a  laudable  effort  to  provide  fit  read- 
ing matter  for  young  people  who  could  get  it  nowhere 
else,  it  became,  in  many  cases,  owing  to  misdirected  zeal, 
lack  of  good  taste,  and  skillful  exploitation  by  the  pub- 
lishers of  trivial  or  sentimental  "  goody-goody  '^  books, 
a  scorn  and  a  byword.  A  ''  Sunday-school  book  "  was, 
with  most  healthy-minded  children,  a  thing  to  be 
avoided  and  with  their  elders  an  object  of  ridicule.  Re- 
cent efforts  at  reform  have  taken  very  largely  the  shape 
of  a  substitution  of  good,  wholesome  reading,  of  no  spe- 
cial religious  cast,  for  the  books  above  mentioned.  Li- 
braries thus  reformed,  however,  are  merely  duplicating 
the  work  of  the  public  circulating  collection.  In  some 
cases  clergymen  or  Sunday-school  authorities,  seeing  this, 
have  discontinued  their  libraries  and  directed  the  chil- 
dren to  the  nearest  public  library  for  their  reading. 
Doubtless  this  is  too  radical  a  step.  Other  schools,  re- 
taining their  own  collections,  have  supplemented  them  by 
traveling  libraries  from  a  public  institution.  There  seems 
to  be  no  reason,  however,  why  Sunday  schools  should 
not  do  as  secular  schools  should  do — namely,  retain  a 
small  specialized  collection  for  the  use  of  teachers  and 
pupils  in  the  preparation  of  their  lessons,  not  primarily 

101 


TJsi    LIBteA?RY:  AND    THE    SCHOOL 

for  cifcuMfiohV  ancl'  rely  x]>ri  the  public  library  for  all 
general  and  supplementary  reading.  The  school  would 
then  maintain  an  attractive  reading  room  fitted  with 
biblical  commentaries  and  expositories,  versions  in  vari- 
ous languages  for  comparison  by  the  older  scholars, 
geographies  of  Bible  lands  and  travels  therein,  encyclo- 
pedias and  dictionaries  of  religion,  and  perhaps  some 
general  treatises  on  ethics  and  sociology,  although  possi- 
bly even  these  also  should  be  left  to  the  public  library. 
In  a  small  city  various  schools  might  combine  to  main- 
tain a  room  of  this  kind  in  the  public  library  building. 
Closely  connected  with  school  work  is  the  circu- 
lation of  text-books  from  libraries.  These  are  used  by 
readers  in  at  least  three  distinct  ways :  for  general  read- 
ing, as  any  other  book  might  be  used,  especially  text- 
books of  history,  literature,  some  branches  of  science, 
etc. ;  by  teachers  in  the  course  of  their  professional  du- 
ties, either  to  inform  themselves  of  others'  work  and 
methods  or  to  facilitate  broader  preparation  for  a  par- 
ticular recitation ;  and  by  scholars  for  purposes  of  study, 
direct  or  supplementary,  in  the  ordinary  way.  There 
seems  to  be  a  general  feeling  that  the  wholesale  distribu- 
tion of  text-books  is  something  that  the  public  library 
cannot  undertake,  and  many  libraries  have  practically 
excluded  them  from  circulation.  There  seems,  however, 
no  objection  to  their  use  in  certain  specified  ways.  In 
the  first  place,  any  book  that  may  be  read  continuously 
with  pleasure  and  profit  should  be  admitted  wholly  with- 
out reference  to  its  character  as  a  text-book.  The  school 
histories  of  John  Fiske,  Prof.  Shaler's  books  on  geology, 
and  Young's  or  Newcomb's  astronomies  come  under  this 
head.  So  far  as  the  needs  of  teachers  are  concerned, 
there  should  be  a  text-book  collection  for  reference  use, 

102 


TEXT-BOOKS 

containing  practically  everything  embodying  distinctly 
different  facts  or  methods  of  presenting  them,  with  a 
reasonable  number  of  selected  duplicates  for  circulation 
on  special  cards  only.  The  third  class  of  users — the  stu- 
dents themselves — is  the  one  of  which  librarians  are  apt 
to  complain.  It  consists  in  part  of  students  in  colleges 
and  other  institutions,  where  pupils  are  expected  to  fur- 
nish their  own  books,  who  prefer  to  save  expense  by 
using  those  of  the  library;  in  part  of  public-school  pu- 
pils whose  text-books  are  provided  free  of  charge,  but 
who  have  lost  or  injured  them,  and  who  take  this  method 
of  avoiding  the  consequences  of  their  carelessness;  in 
part  also  of  persons  studying  by  themselves,  possibly  to 
prepare  for  civil-service  or  other  public  examinations. 
So  far  as  school  or  college  pupils  are  concerned,  whether 
they  are  expected  to  furnish  their  own  books  or  not,  it  is 
surely  not  the  business  of  the  public  library  to  do  so. 
With  the  ''  free  lances  "  the  case  is  somewhat  different. 
Their  number  is  not  so  great  as  that  of  the  others,  and 
there  is  some  reason  why  the  public  library,  in  its  educa- 
tional capacity,  should  give  them  some  assistance  in  ob- 
taining an  education  that  they  would  not  otherwise 
secure.  Text-books  for  this  purpose  should  be  such  as 
are  required  or  approved  by  the  authorities  in  charge  of 
the  examinations  for  which  users  of  the  library  desire,  in 
general,  to  prepare. 

In  libraries  where  loss  from  theft  is  large,  text-books 
often  form  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  volumes 
taken,  and  it  may  therefore  be  necessary  to  keep  the 
text-book  collection  on  closed  shelves.  In  any  case,  bor- 
rowers of  such  books  should  be  granted  special  cards,  or 
some  equivalent  privilege,  enabling  them  to  keep  the 
volumes  as  long  as  they  are  in  use.    Rather  than  to  take 

103 


THE    LIBRARY   AND    THE    SCHOOL 

all  this  trouble,  some  libraries  come  to  the  pardonable 
conclusion  that  it  is  better  to  exclude  text-books,  as  such, 
from  circulation  altogether. 

Although  attempts  to  coordinate  the  work  of  library 
and  school  have  been  widespread,  and  although  they 
have  been  very  successful  along  certain  lines  and  in 
special  localities,  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  movement  as 
a  whole  has  yet  completely  attained  its  aim.  It  has 
doubtless  partaken  too  much  of  the  nature  of  an  effort 
on  the  part  of  librarians  to  induce  teachers  to  recognize 
them  as  coworkers  and  to  undertake  certain  additional 
work  in  the  way  of  cooperation.  Teachers,  as  a  body, 
have  not  been  particularly  enthusiastic  and  have  mani- 
fested little  desire  to  meet  the  libraries  halfway.  Not 
that  there  has  not  been  much  appreciative  work  done. 
The  National  Education  Association  has  had  for  some 
years  a  library  section,  although  an  unsuccessful  at- 
tempt to  discontinue  it  was  made  in  1909;  and  the 
American  Library  Association  has  a  committee  on  coop- 
eration with  that  body.  Efforts  to  hold  the  annual  meet- 
ings of  the  two  associations  in  the  same  spot  in  some  one 
year  have  so  far  met  with  no  success.  Joint  local  meet- 
ings of  teachers  and  librarians  have  frequently  been 
held,  and  have  been  productive  of  stimulated  interest 
and  good  feeling.  It  may  be  doubted,  however,  whether 
the  fact  that  the  ultimate  object  of  cooperation  is  the 
betterment  of  public  education  has  been  kept  clearly 
enough  before  the  minds  of  the  two  parties.  Teachers 
have  gladly  learned  of  the  readiness  of  libraries  to  fur- 
nish special  books  for  themselves  and  their  pupils,  to 
offer  facilities  for  the  preparation  of  lessons,  and  to 
avoid  interference  with  school  tasks.  They  have  wel- 
comed such  aid  with  a  pardonable  feeling  that  it  should 

104 


TEXT-BOOKS 

be  accepted  at  the  expense  of  as  little  added  trouble  and 
effort  as  possible.  On  the  other  hand,  librarians  anxious 
to  extend  the  sphere  and  increase  the  usefulness  of  their 
new  educational  machinery,  and  seeing  clearly  how  im- 
portant an  alliance  with  the  schools  might  be  to  them, 
have  made  all  possible  bids  for  it,  and  have  regarded 
privileges  offered  to  teachers  as  so  many  inducements  to 
them  to  look  kindly  on  the  work  of  the  library  and  to 
assist  it  in  any  possible  way.  There  has,  unfortunately, 
been  reason  in  the  past,  if  not  in  the  present,  for  libra- 
rians to  fear  that  the  influence  of  teachers  would  be 
exerted  against  them.  About  twenty  years  agu, 
for  instance,  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  in  New 
York  City  positively  forbade  his  teachers  to  receive 
books  for  classroom  use  from  the  city  libraries.  Hap- 
pily there  is  little  chance  now  that  any  school  officer  will 
go  to  such  an  extreme  as  this,  but  there  is  still  too  strong 
a  feeling  on  the  part  of  both  teachers  and  librarians  that 
cooperation  is  a  game  of  give  and  take,  and  that  it  is 
legitimate  to  try  to  get  as  much  and  give  as  little  as  may 
be.  We  seldom  meet  with  a  full  and  free  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  the  object  is  the  adequate  education  of  the 
individual — a  process  beginning  in  infancy  and  lasting 
until  death — and  that  such  mutual  aid  as  is  possible  be- 
tween school  and  library  should  be  directed  intelligently 
and  thoughtfully  to  this  end,  and  only  to  this  end.  The 
courses  in  school  and  college  should  be  laid  out  with  the 
intent  to  fit  scholars  for  the  intelligent  use  of  libraries 
during  the  years  after  they  have  left  school ;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  librarians  should  study  to  make  the  use  of 
their  collections  by  children  before  and  during  school 
years  directly  contributory  to  the  best  use  of  their  school 
privileges.    This  is  the  exception ;  but  it  is  an  exception 

105 


THE    LIBRARY   AND    THE    SCHOOL 

that  is  met  more  and  more  frequently,  and  that  may  at 
some  fortunate  future  period  become  the  rule. 

One  educational  rcle,  somewhat  neglected  by  the 
schools,  the  library  seems  eminently  fitted  to  play — that 
of  selector.  A  drawback  to  all  school  education  is  that 
the  schools  must  treat  their  scholars  in  the  mass,  whereas 
each  pupil  separately  differs  from  every  other.  The  ad- 
vantage of  friction  with  one's  fellows,  while  the  educa- 
tional process  is  going  on,  outweighs  the  disadvantage  of 
this  mass  treatment,  and  it  is  little  felt  during  the  ear- 
lier stages  of  education.  But  as  soon  as  an  opportunity 
is  given  for  divergence  this  takes  place  irregularly  and 
unsystematically.  Fitness  for  a  given  career  may  be  the 
last  thing  that  is  considered  in  its  selection;  and  even 
when  the  selector  desires  to  consider  it,  he  has  no  means 
of  ascertaining  whether  or  in  what  degree  it  exists.  The 
student  who  gives  up  his  formal  education  in  grammar 
school  may  be  eminently  fitted  for  the  university  train- 
ing that  does  little  or  no  good  to  the  man  who  gets  it. 
Professions  and  occupations  are  chosen  by  accident; 
everywhere  we  see  round  pegs  in  square  holes  and  the 
reverse.  In  brief,  selection  is  no  small  part  of  training, 
and  although  complete  and  perfect  adaptation  is,  of 
course,  impossible,  it  would  seem  that  our  educational 
processes  might  tend  more  evidently  toward  it  than 
they  do. 

Now  the  library,  especially  the  open-shelf  library,  in- 
viting the  user  to  roam  about  from  theology  to  sports 
and  from  history  to  steam  engineering,  is  a  potent  aid  to 
selection.  A  single  day  spent  between  the  medical  and 
the  legal  shelves  may  be  enough  to  indicate  to  the  library 
user  that  his  tastes,  hitherto  unsuspected,  lie  in  one  di- 
rection rather  than  the  other;  and  to  spare  the  world  a, 

106 


SELECTIVE    EDUCATION 

poor  physician  or  a  worse  attorney.  Habitual  use  of  a 
well-selected  library  before  and  during  school  education 
will  reveal  aptitudes  in  various  directions,  and  will  en- 
able the  student,  especially  if  he  has  p:ocd  advisers,  to 
control  the  amount  and  direction  of  his  formal  educa- 
tion with  vastly  more  surety  than  otherwise.  The  mod- 
ern effort  to  lay  more  stress  on  vocational  training  is 
thus  reinforced  and  supplemented,  in  a  very  practical 
way,  by  the  ordinary  functions  of  the  public  library. 
Another  point  of  contact  between  library  and  school 
that  is  essentially  recent,  is  the  incorporation  into  the 
school  curriculum  of  instruction  in  the  use  of  libraries. 
This  is  often  done  in  the  library  itself  through  the 
visits  of  classes,  accompanied  by  their  teachers.  The 
teachers  themselves  are  also  being  trained  to  give  this 
instruction  by  means  of  library  courses  in  normal 
schools. 


CHAPTEK    YIII 

TRAVELING   LIBRARIES 

Traveling  libraries  are  simply  collections  of  books 
sent  to  communities,  associations,  or  individuals  for  cir- 
culation. They  may  be  sent  out  by  libraries  to  supple- 
ment their  work,  by  a  state  to  supply  its  rural  districts, 
by  some  charitable  association,  or  even  by  individuals. 
In  a  library  that  adopts  this  method  of  reaching  those 
who  cannot  or  will  not  use  the  ordinary  sources  of  circu- 
lation, care  is  generally  taken  to  see  that  the  traveling  col- 
lection is  not  used  by  anyone  who  could  or  would  other- 
wise go  to  a  branch  library.  Exceptions  are  collections 
on  special  subjects,  sent  to  clubs  or  societies  that  desire 
them  for  study  or  discussion.  Traveling  libraries  sent 
out  by  a  state  are  usually  managed  by  the  state  library 
commission,  if  there  is  one ;  by  the  State  Librarian,  as  in 
Virginia ;  or  sometimes  by  a  special  committee  appointed 
for  the  purpose,  as  in  Kansas.  Traveling  libraries  sent 
out  by  associations  are  often  of  the  home-library  type, 
like  those  distributed  in  Boston  by  the  Children's  Aid 
Society.  Occasionally  a  philanthropist,  like  State  Senator 
Stout,  of  Wisconsin,  has  taken  up  the  work  at  his  own 
expense.  It  is  much  to  be  desired  that  work  of  this  kind 
should  be  done  systematically  and  without  duplication; 
hence  in  a  city  the  public  library  is  the  best  institution 
to  take  charge  of  it.  In  some  libraries  a  special  stock 
of  books,  with  a  special  force  of  trained  assistants,  is  set 

108 


TWO    TYPES 

apart  for  this  work  alone.  Thus  in  New  York  the  Trav- 
eling Library  Office  of  the  Public  Library  uses  a  stock  of 
90,000  books  and  employs  seventeen  assistants.  It  cir- 
culated 800,000  volumes  in  the  year  1916,  through  900 
collections,  stationed  at  schools,  public  and  private;  at 
fire-engine  houses,  factories,  stores,  Sunday  schools,  in 
rural  communities,  summer  camps,  settlements,  hospitals, 
and  so  on. 

In  making  up  collections  of  books  to  be  thus  sent 
there  is  choice  of  two  methods.  Either  fixed  collections 
may  be  formed  and  rigidly  kept  together,  being  num- 
bered *'  Library  1,"  "Library  2,"  and  so  on,  or  the 
collections  may  be  made  up  to  order,  there  being  no  limit 
of  number,  either  inferior  or  superior,  and  no  collection, 
as  a  general  thing,  going  to  two  places  in  the  same  form. 
The  former,  or  fixed-library,  plan  is  generally  adopted 
where  it  would  be  impracticable  to  allow  absolute  free- 
dom of  choice,  as  in  sending  out  libraries  over  a  whole 
state.  The  latter,  or  elastic,  plan  is  the  best  where  it  is 
practicable,  and  is  generally  adopted  by  public  libra- 
ries where  the  territory  covered  is  not  too  great  for  those 
who  desire  collections  to  visit  the  center  of  distribution, 
talk  with  those  in  charge,  and  personally  aid  in  picking 
out  such  books  as  are  wanted.  In  this  latter,  or  "  elas- 
tic,*' plap  it  is  not  intended,  of  course,  to  allow  absolute 
freedom  of  choice.  It  is  well  to  limit  very  strictly  the 
amount  of  fiction  circulated  in  this  way,  except  in  collec- 
tions sent  to  rural  communities,  where  the  proportion 
may  be  about  the  same  that  would  be  put  on  the  shelves 
of  a  branch  library,  say  about  thirty  per  cent,  such  a 
collection  being  in  lieu  of  a  branch  library  and  used  in 
the  same  way.  Time  may,  of  course,  be  saved  by  mak- 
ing up  certain  libraries  in  advance  for  those  who  have 

109 


.TRAVELING    LIBRARIES 

neither  the  knowledge  nor  the  desire  to  indicate  a  choice 
of  special  books,  but  who  ask  simply  for  "a  few  books 
on  English  history,"  *'  about  fifty  volumes  of  miscella- 
neous reading,"  "  a  library  of  trade  literature,"  or  the 
like.  Still,  however,  if  such  persons  are  questioned 
somewhat  closely,  it  will  usually  be  possible  to  arrive  at 
some  conclusion  regarding  their  real  wants  or  needs — at 
any  rate  so  far  as  the  size  of  the  collection  is  concerned. 
Fixed  libraries  are  usually  put  up  in  standard  sizes, 
containing  about  the  same  number  of  volumes.  They 
are  packed  in  cases  so  arranged  that  these  may  be  used 
to  display  and  keep  the  books,  and  are  sometimes  ac- 
companied with  printed  lists.  Elastic  libraries  may  be 
of  any  desired  size,  the  capacity  of  the  lending  stock 
alone  furnishing  a  limit.  In  the  New  York  Public  Li- 
brary the  collections  run  from  10  to  600  volumes.  The 
conditions  of  lending  should  be  that  some  person  shall 
be  responsible  for  the  books,  and  that  an  account  of  their 
use  shall  be  kept  and  reported  regularly  in  the  manner 
required  by  the  lending  authorities.  If  the  reports  show 
that  the  collection  is  not  sufficiently  used,  it  should  be 
withdrawn,  no  matter  how  small  it  may  be,  and  placed 
where  it  will  do  better  work.  So  long  as  it  is  well  cir- 
culated, no  matter  how  large  it  may  be,  there  is  no  rea- 
son why  those  who  are  using  it  should  not  retain  it,  sub- 
ject, of  course,  to  recall  every  year  or  so  for  examination 
and  repair.  As  it  is  desirable  to  place  the  books  in  a 
traveling  collection  where  they  will  do  the  most  good, 
the  requirement  of  a  monthly  report  is  very  necessary, 
but  it  is  in  most  cases  difficult  to  obtain  regularly.  In 
certain  cases  library  assistants  may  be  sent  to  take  the 
record,  or  to  assist  in  working  it  out,  but  to  do  this  regu- 
larly would  require  too  large  a  force.    In  most  cases  the 

110 


STATISTICS 

books  are  in  charge  of  amateurs,  who  cannot  be  directed 
and  controlled  as  if  they  were  employees.  If  no  ac- 
count of  circulation  is  desired,  especially  if  the  collec- 
tions are  of  the  fixed  type,  the  accounts  of  the  traveling 
libraries  are  easily  kept.  The  libraries  are  charged  by 
number  to  the  persons  or  institutions  that  have  them 
and  are  checked  off  as  they  return.  With  the  elastic  sys- 
tem, especially  where  reports  of  use  or  circulation  are  re- 
quired, as  they  should  be  with  this  type  of  library,  a 
more  elaborate  system  of  accounts  is  necessary,  but  even 
here  it  is  sufficient  to  charge  the  individual  books  by  re- 
taining the  cards,  and  to  furnish  separate  cards  on 
which  to  record  the  issues. 

In  rendering  a  report  of  the  work  done  through  trav- 
eling libraries  some  confusion  may  result.  In  reporting 
the  use  of  an  ordinary  library  it  is  possible  to  distin- 
guish very  clea^'ly  between  the  use  of  books  in  the  li- 
brary building  and  home  use,  and  these  are  now  usually 
given  separately,  although  formerly  many  librarians 
lumped  them  together  as  "  circulation  " — a  plan  now 
generally  condemned.  But  in  the  case  of  traveling  col- 
lections the  books  go  out  twice — once  from  the  library 
building  or  stock  room  and  again  from  the  place  of  de- 
posit. It  has  therefore  been  considered  proper  by  some 
institutions  to  report  as  "  circulation,"  together  with 
ordinary  home  use,  every  use  of  a  traveling-library 
book,  whether  at  the  actual  home  of  the  user  or  in  the 
place  of  deposit.  Thus,  if  a  collection  of  books  were 
sent  to  a  club,  and  read,  one  after  another,  by  different 
members  of  the  club,  the  same  record  would  be  made  as 
if  each  had  taken  it  home,  on  the  ground  that  such  use  is 
certainly  not  in  the  library  building.  On  the  other 
hand,  some  libraries  count  as  **  home  use  "  only  such 

111 


TRAVELING    LIBRARIES 

books  as  are  actually  taken  from  the  place  of  deposit  to 
the  homes  of  the  users.  All  books  used  in  the  place  of 
deposit  itself  are  reported  with  books  read  in  the  library- 
building,  the  place  of  deposit  being  regarded  as  analo- 
gous to  a  branch  library.  In  some  other  localities  no 
record  at  all  is  made  of  the  use  of  traveling  libraries,  the 
only  figures  regarded  as  reliable  being  the  number  of 
books  sent  out  and  the  length  of  time  during  which  they 
are  used.  This  is  the  plan  pursued  with  the  New  York 
State  traveling  libraries.  If  reports  of  use  can  be  ob- 
tained with  any  degree  of  accuracy,  the  second  method 
outlined  above  would  seem  the  logical  and  proper  one. 
To  omit  all  statistics  of  use  would  appear  like  a  confes- 
sion of  failure. 

An  important  variety  of  the  traveling  library  is  the 
'*  home  library,"  which  is  simply  a  small  collection  of 
books  sent  to  an  individual,  generally  for  distribution 
among  members  of  a  group  of  neighbors  and  friends. 
As  originally  planned,  such  a  library  was  a  phase  of 
neighborhood  work  with  children  in  tenement-house  dis 
tricts.  A  library  of,  say,  fifteen  books  is  left  in  custody 
of  some  child,  and  about  once  a  week  a  visitor  meets  the 
group  at  the  custodian's  house,  exchanges  the  books, 
talks  about  them  to  the  children,  and  engages  in  such 
other  work  as  occurs  to  her.  Evidently  much  depends 
here  on  the  personality  of  the  visitor.  The  work  would 
seem,  at  first  sight,  well  adapted  to  volunteers,  but  it  is 
difficult  to  secure  those  whose  discretion  equals  their 
zeal  and  who  will  work  regularly  for  any  length  of  time. 
Many  institutions  operating  these  libraries,  accordingly, 
furnish  their  own  visitors.  One  such  may  visit  several 
groups  in  an  afternoon,  and  may  thus  care  for  twenty 
to  twenty-five   libraries  with   weekly   visits.     In   some 

112 


HOME    LIBRARIES 

cases  it  is  possible  to  omit  the  visits,  or  to  make  them 
only  at  every  second  or  third  meeting  of  the  group.  This 
is  usually  where  the  custodian  of  the  books  is  an  older 
boy  or  girl  who  is  able  to  fulfill  in  some  measure  the 
duties  of  the  visitor.  Again,  the  uses  of  the  home  li- 
brary may  be  assimilated  to  those  of  an  ordinary  travel- 
ing library,  or  even  to  a  collection  of  books  taken  out  on 
a  special  card  for  study.  Thus,  a  group  of  children 
using  an  ordinary  miscellaneous  home  library  may,  as 
they  grow  older,  become  practically  a  study  club,  par- 
ticularly interested  in  some  one  subject,  and  preferring 
that  their  collection  of  books  shall  be  increased  in  size 
and  limited  to  that  subject.  Or,  the  group  may  dwin- 
dle, leaving  only  the  leader,  who  has  yet  become  so  in- 
terested that  it  seems  desirable  to  continue  a  small  col- 
lection of  books  for  his  own  use. 

In  all  these  cases  there  is  danger,  of  course,  that  the 
use  of  a  home  library  may  interfere  with  that  of  the 
library  proper,  especially  of  a  near-by  branch.  This  is  a 
misfortune,  as  the  good  that  a  child  will  be  apt  to  re- 
ceive from  a  well-equipped  children's  room,  with  a  com- 
petent children's  librarian,  is  incalculably  greater  than 
that  obtained  from  the  small  collection,  with  its  visitor 
calling  perhaps  every  week  or  two.  Where  the  child 
cannot  visit  a  library,  or  where  the  home  library  can  be 
made  the  means  of  leading  a  group  of  readers  up  to  the 
use  of  a  children's  room,  then,  and  then  only,  is  it  prop- 
erly employed.  There  is  danger,  especially  where  this 
work  is  under  a  separate  manager  or  in  charge  of  a 
separate  departmest,  that  zeal  to  make  the  work  of  that 
department  as  large  as  possible  may  outrun  discretion  in 
this  respect.  This  is  true,  not  only  of  home  libraries, 
but  of  other  traveling  collections  as  well.     Cases  have 

113 


TRAVELING   LIBRARIES 

been  known  where  members  of  a  home-library  group  use 
a  traveling  library  deposited  at  the  school  that  they  at- 
tend, and  also  hold  cards  at  the  nearest  branch  library. 
Here,  of  course,  we  have  wasteful  duplication  of  work. 

And  if  such  duplication  may  occur  between  different 
departments  of  the  same  institution,  it  is  still  more  likely 
to  take  place  between  the  library  and  some  other  body 
that  is  sending  out  home  libraries  or  traveling  collec- 
tions in  general.  In  this  case,  too,  it  is  more  difficult  to 
stop  the  wasteful  work.  This  clearly  indicates  the  unde- 
sirability  of  doing  any  such  work  except  in  connection 
with  a  library.  An  exception  may  be  made  in  favor  of 
state  traveling  libraries,  since  these  generally  go  to  lo- 
calities without  other  library  privileges;  yet  this  is  not 
always  the  case.  Instances  have  been  known  where  the 
users  of  a  state  collection  had  access  also  to  a  town 
library,  with  the  resulting  waste  of  effort  that  has 
already  been  described. 

A  future  lies  before  the  traveling  library  as  a  useful 
adjunct  of  branch  systems  in  cities  having  a  very  large 
territory  to  cover.  In  preparation  for  future  expan- 
sion, many  of  our  cities  have  annexed  much  contiguous 
territory  in  which  the  conditions  are  rural  or  semirural. 
Such  annexation  has  been  made  the  target  of  much 
cheap  wit,  but  in  most  cases  the  rapid  growth  of  the  city 
has  justified  it.  There  must  in  all  cases,  however,  be 
years  in  which  the  rural  conditions  will  continue,  and  a 
sparsely  scattered  population  must  be  cared  for  by  the 
city  public  library.  This  population  is  often  too  remote 
to  be  able  to  use  any  existing  branch  library,  and  condi- 
tions that  would  warrant  the  establishment  of  new 
branches  to  supply  them  are  not  yet  present.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  traveling  library  furnishes  an 

lU 


Traveling  Library  in  a  Farmer's  Home  in  Wisconsin. 


Rural  Free  Delivery  ok  liooKs  iito.M  iiiK  WAr^iiiNoiuN  C^tiiMv 
Library,  Hagerstown,  Md. 


RURAL   LIBRARIES 

excellent  way  out  of  the  difficulty.  The  only  problem  is 
the  selection  of  a  place  of  deposit  and  a  proper  custo- 
dian. A  schoolhouse  is  a  natural  center,  but  it  is  not  a 
good  place  of  deposit  for  a  collection  intended  for  the 
entire  community,  unless  arrangements  can  be  made  to 
keep  the  building  open  after  hours  and  during  vacations. 
Even  then  many  of  the  adults  in  the  place  will  inevi- 
tably regard  the  collection  as  intended  for  children 
alone,  and  thus  fail  to  take  advantage  of  it. 

It  often  happens  that  the  most  enterprising  person 
in  the  community,  from  the  library  standpoint,  is  the 
pastor  of  a  church,  who  offers  a  home  in  his  parish  house 
for  the  collection.  It  may  be  that  this  is  the  best  place 
for  it,  and  that  the  community  is  such  that  all  will  use 
the  books  freely  under  these  conditions.  But  such  an 
offer  requires  careful  preliminary  study  of  the  situation. 
Such  a  place  of  deposit  may  cause  the  library  to  be 
looked  upon  as  denominational,  and  may  help  the  one 
church  where  it  is  located  without  benefiting  the  com- 
munity at  large.  In  particular.  Catholics  will  rarely 
use  a  collection  of  books  in  a  Protestant  church,  nor 
would  Jews  be  apt  to  go  to  a  churdh  building  at  all  for 
such  a  purpose.  In  many  cases  a  store,  especially  a 
drug  store  or  a  well-kept  grocery,  offers  a  solution.  The 
proprietor  is  generally  willing  to  give  the  books  space  on 
account  of  the  resulting  advertisement  and  because  they 
attract  people  to  his  place.  Sometimes  he  stipulates  that 
he  shall  be  allowed  to  announce  the  presence  of  the  li- 
brary in  his  press  notices,  and  if  this  is  properly  done 
there  can  be  no  objection  to  it.  It  may  be,  however,  that, 
although  he  is  willing  to  house  the  books,  he  has  no  time 
to  care  for  them  and  to  give  them  out.  In  this  case,  this 
part  of  the  work  may  be  done  by  volunteers. 
9  115 


TRAVELING   LIBRARIES 

This  distribution  of  collections  of  books  over  sucli  a 
tract  of  rus  in  urhe  requires  work  not  unlike  that  of  an 
organizer  in  connection  with  a  state  library  commission. 
Two  extremes  are  difficult  to  deal  with:  the  community 
that  does  not  realize  the  need  of  a  public  collection  of 
books,  is  suspicious  of  the  library 's  motives  and  hesitates 
to  cooperate  in  any  way  in  establishing  one  or  carrying 
it  on,  and  the  too-zealous  community,  which  pushes  the 
use  of  its  collection  chiefly  to  demonstrate  to  the  library 
authorities  its  need  of  larger  facilities — the  desirability, 
for  instance,  of  the  place  as  a  site  for  a  branch  library. 
The  librarian  in  charge  of  the  distribution  of  traveling 
collections  over  a  region  affected  in  all  these  different 
ways  has  need  of  ability  and  tact  of  a  high  order. 


CHAPTEK   IX 

THE  LIBRARY  FOR  THE  BUSINESS  MAN  AND  THE 
MECHANIC 

It  has  been  charged  that  the  public  library  is  essen- 
tially a  woman's  institution;  that  it  is  used  chiefly  by 
women,  and  purchases  chiefly  those  books  that  women 
like  to  read.  Statistics  to  prove  or  disprove  such  an  as- 
sertion as  this  are  practically  impossible  to  obtain.  The 
card  holders  in  a  family  are  more  often  women  than 
men,  because  the  former  have  more  leisure  to  make  ap- 
plication and  to  draw  books;  but  those  who  read  these 
books  may  be  the  men  of  the  family  as  well  as  the 
women.  There  is  doubtless  more  or  less  justification  in 
the  charge,  but  the  question  must  be  approached  in 
another  way. 

For  our  present  purposes  the  reading  of  books  may 
be  divided  into  three  classes — reading  for  recreation, 
reading  for  study,  and  reading  for  information  apart 
from  study.  Recreational  reading  embraces  almost  all 
the  use  of  fiction,  with  some  of  the  other  subdivisions  of 
literature,  and  is  indulged  in  more  by  women  than  by 
men.  Reading  for  study  is  probably  done  about  equally 
by  men  and  women.  Reading  for  information,  apart 
from  regular  courses  of  study,  when  done  by  women  is 
apt  to  be  largely  in  history,  biography,  or  travel. 
■When  done  by  men  it  may  have  direct  bearing  upon  the 
reader's  occupation,  temporary  or  permanent;  and  as  it 

117 


THE    LIBEARY   FOR   THE    BUSINESS   MAN   . 

is  this  class  of  readers  that  the  public  library  has  been, 
neglecting  more  or  less,  there  is  probably  some  basis  for 
the  charge  that  it  has  paid  less  attention  to  men  than  to 
women.  More  fairly  stated,  the  American  public  library 
has  not,  until  recently,  realized  that  a  large  possible  de- 
mand exists  for  reading  bearing  directly  upon  the  daily 
occupations  of  its  readers.  And  as  the  greater  propor- 
tion of  those  having  a  regular  wage-earning  occupation 
are  men,  this  lack  has  been  felt  more  by  men  than  by 
women.  This  is  a  case  in  which  the  makers  of  books 
have  felt  and  responded  to  the  demand  much  more 
quickly  than  have  such  distributors  as  public  libraries. 
A  considerable  literature  of  the  manufactures,  of  com- 
merce, and  of  the  various  trades  has  been  in  existence 
for  some  time.  It  is  not  wholly  systematic ;  for  example, 
it  is  comparatively  easy  to  gather  a  large  collection  of" 
books  on  textile  fibers  and  their  manufacture  into  fab- 
rics, while  the  works  on  hat-making,  for  instance,  are 
limited  to  a  very  few  titles.  It  is  not  easy  to  give  rea- 
sons for  differences  like  these ;  doubtless  their  causes  lie 
in  conditions  peculiar  to  certain  trades  and  manufac- 
tures and  not  easily  ascertained  or  appreciated  by  out- 
siders. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  demand  for 
this  kind  of  reading  originates  always,  or  even  generally, 
in  a  desire  to  familiarize  oneself  with  the  literature  of  a 
trade  or  occupation.  In  many  cases  the  very  existence 
of  such  a  literature  is  unknown  to  the  worker,  or  if  he 
knows  it  he  cares  nothing  about  it.  The  use  of  such 
books  is  generally  at  first  only  the  most  limited  sort  of 
reference  use.  A  dealer  in  nuts  wants  to  know  whether 
peanuts  may  not  be  grown  profitably  in  a  Northern- 
state;  a  man  who  is  thinking  of  moving  to  Colorado  is 

118 


CLASSES    OF    READING 

anxious  to  obtain  information  of  the  industrial  and 
commercial  opportunities  in  that  State;  an  engineer 
wants  to  find  a  remedy  for  a  cylinder  that  is  out  of 
order ;  a  boy  desires  practical  directions  to  make  an  aero- 
plane or  a  gliding  boat.  The  satisfaction  of  these  desires 
from  books  directs  attention  to  the  fact  that  a  literature 
exists  on  the  subject  in  which  the  reader  is  interested, 
whether  it  be  vocation  or  avocation,  and  induces  him  to 
dip  somewhat  more  deeply  into  it. 

Now,  these  demands  existed  long  before  there  were 
books  to  satisfy  them ;  in  fact,  technical  and  trade  liter- 
ature is  largely  an  outgrowth  of  them.  But  it  is  only 
recently  that  a  majority  of  the  persons  in  whose  minds 
these  questions  arise  have  known  that  there  are  books  in 
which  the  answers  may  be  found,  and  even  now  most  of 
those  who  know  of  such  books  do  not  think  of  going  to  a 
public  library  for  them.  The  trouble  is  that  over  the 
library  and  its  public  still  hangs  the  idea,  so  hard  to  dis- 
sipate, that  it  is  primarily  the  abode  of  pure  literature 
and  of  scholarship  in  the  older  sense.  One  may,  of 
course,  obtain  information  in  a  library;  but  of  what 
sort?  In  history,  pure  science,  language,  or  art?  Cer- 
tainly. About  cabinet-making,  "  ad  "-writing,  sales- 
manship, or  plumbing?  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten  the 
seeker  for  data  on  these  subjects  does  not  think  of  the 
public  library  in  such  a  connection.  The  man  who 
wants  to  know  whether  oil  lamps  were  used  in  England 
in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII,  or  to  find  the  formula  for 
air  resistance  to  a  falling  body,  or  whether  the  Arabic 
language  has  a  subjunctive  mood,  or  the  location  of  Da 
Vinci's  **  Last  Supper,"  goes  to  the  public  library  as  if 
by  instinct.  He  who  wants  to  know  how  best  to  pack  a 
piston,  or  some  attractive  ways  of  dressing  a  shop  win- 

119 


THE    LIBRARY   FOR    THE    BUSINESS    MAN 

dow,  or  how  to  box  goods  that  are  to  be  consigned  to 
Ecuador,  does  not  generally  consult  a  library;  he  goes 
to  some  one  who  he  thinks  may  have  special  knowledge 
on  the  subject  and  gets  or  tries  to  get  his  information 
by  word  of  mouth.  In  other  words,  the  people  who  need 
commercial  and  trade  literature  are  much  in  the  posi- 
tion, as  regards  this  literature,  of  the  general  public  be- 
fore the  invention  of  printing.  If  this  is  too  strong  a 
statement,  it  may  at  any  rate  be  said  that  for  them,  so 
far  as  their  special  needs  are  concerned,  the  public 
library  has  had  no  existence. 

The  American  public  library  is  beginning  to  awake 
to  this  state  of  affairs,  and  is  trying  to  better  it  in  vari- 
ous ways:  first,  by  purchasing,  for  its  general  stock,  a 
greater  proportion  of  commercial,  trade,  and  technolog- 
ical books ;  secondly,  by  establishing,  if  the  size  and  im- 
portance of  the  institution  warrant  it,  a  special  com- 
mercial or  technological  collection,  under  the  charge  of 
an  expert;  thirdly,  by  endeavoring  to  let  the  persons  to 
whom  these  books  would  appeal  know  of  their  presence 
in  the  library  and  of  the  readiness  of  the  librarians  to  as- 
sist in  their  use  and  to  add  to  their  number  when  nec- 
essary. Besides  this,  there  have  sprung  up  in  some  large 
cities,  largely  as  the  result  of  the  public  library's  fail- 
ure to  do  its  duty  in  this  respect,  special  libraries  along 
these  or  similar  lines.  In  a  recent  investigation  made 
at  the  Newark  Public  Library  it  was  discovered  that 
there  are  at  least  thirty-five  different  kinds  of  these  spe- 
cial libraries,  and  an  association  has  now  been  formed 
to  further  their  interests.  The  independent  existence  of 
some  of  these  libraries  is  quite  logical,  but  in  too  many 
cases  their  work  could  be  done  as  well  or  better  by  the 
nearest  public  library.     Instances  of  such  special  libra- 

120 


SPECIAL   LIBRARIES 

ries  are  those  of  the  Commercial  Museum  of  Philadel- 
phia, the  Insurance  Societies  of  New  York,  the  Mer- 
chants' associations  of  New  York  and  Boston,  of  the 
Public  Service  Commission,  New  York,  of  the  Provident 
Association  of  St.  Louis,  of  the  firm  of  Stone  &  Webster, 
Boston,  and  so  on.  These  libraries,  though  mostly  open 
to  the  public,  are  not  public  libraries  in  the  broad  sense, 
and  are  mentioned  here  simply  to  show  that  if  the  public 
library  fails  to  do  its  duty  completely,  some  independent 
institution  will  arise  to  supplement  its  work. 

Large  libraries  having  special  collections  for  the  use 
of  mechanics,  handicraft  men,  and  business  men  have 
found  it  desirable  to  employ  a  custodian  familiar  with 
the  books  and  with  the  subjects  that  they  discuss. 
Smaller  libraries,  of  course,  can  have  neither  separate 
collections  nor  special  expert  assistants,  but  it  has  been 
suggested  that  the  staff  of  such  libraries  includes  a  man 
able  to  talk  to  the  users  of  books  of  this  sort  and  to  un- 
derstand their  needs  and  desires.  The  importance  of  sex 
is  emphasized  by  some  librarians  in  discussing  this  sub- 
ject. Mr.  A.  L.  Bailey,  librarian  of  the  Wilmington 
(Del.)  Institute,  gives  it  as  his  experience  that  working- 
men  will  in  general  not  ask  questions  of  woman  assist- 
ants, and  that  they  sometimes  even  hesitate  to  enter  a 
library  where  the  assistants  are  all  of  this  sex.  This  has 
been  resented  as  a  reflection  on  woman  librarians,  and 
others  have  stated  that  their  experience  does  not  accord 
with  Mr.  Bailey's;  but  it  is  very  natural  that  a  man 
who  enters  a  library  to  find  out  something  about  carpen- 
try, plumbing,  or  tinsmithing,  and  who  is  not  accus- 
tomed to  the  use  of  collections  of  books,  should  desire  to 
consult  some  one  who  has  a  slight  acquaintance  with 
these  subjects.    Now,  women  are  not  commonly  carpen- 

J21 


THE    LIBRARY   FOR    THE    BUSINESS    MAN 

ters  or  plumbers;  hence  the  would-be  user  of  the  library- 
looks  around  for  a  man,  and,  seeing  none,  departs.  The 
bearing  of  sex  on  the  matter  is  indirect.  It  is  interest- 
ing in  this  connection  to  note  that  the  large  libraries 
that  have  established  technological  departments  have 
placed  them  in  charge  of  men,  generally  graduates  in 
technology  or  engineering. 

In  a  review  of  the  work  of  libraries  with  special 
classes  of  readers  Mr.  Harrison  W.  Graver,  whose  li- 
brary (the  Carnegie,  of  Pittsburgh)  has  been  notewor- 
thy among  those  possessing  valuable  and  active  techno- 
logical departments,  notes  ^  that  the  special  trial  of  the 
technology  librarian  is  not  the  actual  selection  of  his 
books,  which  may  be  chosen  by  the  use  of  numerous  good 
reviews  and  lists,  but  the  speed  with  which  his  collection 
becomes  uselessly  out  of  date.  In  five  to  ten  years  his 
books  no  longer  represent  actual  practice,  and  to  avoid 
this  constant  replacement  is  necessary.  Mr.  Graver  also 
warns  librarians  against  the  sort  of  deadlock  that  has 
been  noted  elsewhere  in  this  volume,  which  is  by  no 
means  confined  to  technological  work.  A  library  pleads 
that  it  is  not  necessary  for  it  to  purchase  technical  and 
trade  books  because  there  is  absolutely  no  demand  for 
them.  But  this  lack  of  demand  is  itself  due  to  knowl- 
edge that  the  books  in  question  are  not  to  be  found  in 
the  library.  As  well  might  the  inventor  of  the  telephone 
have  argued  that  because  there  was  no  antecedent  de- 
mand for  such  a  device,  it  would  be  foolish  to  try  to 
introduce  it. 

In  the  technology  department  of  the  Providence  Pub- 
lic Library,  having  a  collection  of  about  11,000  volumes, 

'  Library  Journal,  31,  C.  72. 
122 


SPECIAL   LIBRARIES 

a  special  effort  is  made  to  advertise  the  library's  re- 
sources in  this  respect  by  notifying  readers,  on  postals, 
of  books  likely  to  be  of  interest  to  them,  by  sending  lists 
to  trade  schools,  and  by  printing  them  in  the  local 
papers.  Among  those  who  use  this  industrial  section  of 
the  library,  as  reported  by  the  custodian,  Miss  Ethel 
Garvin,  are  apprentices  and  machinists  in  the  large  ma- 
chine shops,  workers  in  the  cotton  and  woolen  indus- 
tries, and  those  interested  in  the  manufacture  and  appli- 
cation of  gasoline  engines.' 

The  idea,  noted  above,  that  American  public  libraries 
have  catered  to  women  rather  than  to  men  is  presented 
forcibly  in  The  Independent  (June  15,  1905)  by  a 
writer  who  asserts  that  a  library  assistant  would  be 
shocked  if  a  workman,  with  a  soldering  iron  in  hand, 
should  come  in  and  ask  for  a  book.  In  some  libraries 
doubtless  this  is  so;  yet  Miss  Garvin  says:  ''  In  this 
library  .  .  .  the  more  workmen  who  come,  the  bet- 
ter. ...  A  man  came  in  his  overalls  to  get  a  certain 
gilt  lettering  for  sign  painting,  and,  after  eagerly 
searching  .  .  .  until  he  found  the  exact  letters,  he 
apologized,  saying,  *  I  was  so  anxious  to  get  this  that  I 
came  here  right  from  the  shop.*  Of  course,  he  was  at 
once  made  to  understand  that  no  apology  was  needed.'* 

Miss  Garvin  justly  adds  that  this  feeling  of  indispen- 
sability  is  exactly  what  the  library  should  wish  to  in- 
spire among  workers.  And,  as  already  noted,  it  is  a  case 
of  the  busy  versus  the  idle  reader,  not  of  men  against 
women.  The  library  * '  for  the  business  man  ' '  should  be 
also  for  the  business  woman — not  alone  for  the  woman 
who  is  a  wage  earner,  but  for  the  wife  and  mother. 

It  is  possible  to  conduct  an  applied-science  depart- 
ment almost  wholly  on  reference  lines,  as  is  done  at 

123 


THE    LIBRARY    FOR    THE    BUSINESS    MAN 

Pratt  Institute  Free  Library,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  where 
the  collection  is  intended  not  primarily  for  the  trained 
worker,  but  rather  for  the  student  or  the  man  of  little 
experience.  This  library  has  made  special  effort  to  get 
information  regarding  its  work  before  the  labor  unions. 

It  should  be  noted,  finally,  that  much  of  the  best 
technical  and  trade  literature  is  to  be  found  in  current 
catalogues.  They  are  advertising  matter,  to  be  sure, 
but  generally  in  the  legitimate  and  best  sense — brief 
illustrated  statements  of  fact  instead  of  highly  col- 
ored fiction,  intended  to  deceive. 

The  most  important  type  of  special  library  is  also 
the  most  recent — that  intended  to  act  as  a  bureau  of 
information  in  connection  with  a  state  or  city  govern- 
ment, especially  its  legislative  body.  The  earliest  of 
these,  still  regarded  as  a  model,  is  the  Legislative  Ref- 
erence Library  of  Wisconsin,  operated  by  the  State 
Library  Commission.  Similar  libraries  in  other  states 
are  branches  of  the  State  Library  or  controlled  by 
separate  boards.  Municipal  reference  libraries,  of 
similar  scope,  have  been  established  as  separate  insti- 
tutions by  some  cities  and  by  others  have  been  placed 
in  charge  of  the  public  library.  This  latter  course  is 
the  one  recommended  by  the  Municipal  League,  pro- 
vided the  actual  headquarters  of  the  library  be  in  the 
City  Hall.  The  stock  of  such  a  library  contains  few 
books  but  much  pamphlet  and  clipping  material,  care- 
fully indexed  and  supplemented  by  manuscript  infor- 
mation gathered  by  the  librarian,  who  is  thus  able  to 
give  at  short  notice  data  desired  in  connection  with 
proposed  legislation  or  executive  action.  A  bill-draft- 
ing department  is  often  a  part  of  such  a  library,  and 
the  usefulness  of  the  type  is  already  great. 

124     . 


CHAPTER   X 

THE  SELECTION  OF  BOOKS 

In  selecting  books  for  a  public  library,  whether  the 
original  stock  for  a  new  collection  or  the  current  addi- 
tions to  an  old  one,  due  regard  must  be  paid  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  community  that  it  is  to  serve.  Two  factors 
must  be  considered — the  community's  desires  and  its 
needs.  Of  the  former  the  community  itself  is  sensible, 
and  they  are  easily  ascertained;  of  the  latter  it  is  often 
ignorant,  and  they  can  sometimes  be  found  out  only  by 
skilled  investigation.  Neither  factor  may  be  dwelt  on 
exclusively,  to  the  neglect  of  the  other.  Thus,  if  the  im- 
mediate demands  of  the  community  be  disregarded  as 
trivial  or  mistaken  and  the  library  be  stocked  wholly 
with  books  selected  with  a  view  to  its  improvement,  then, 
even  though  this  selection  be  skillfully  made,  the  books 
may  be  let  alone  by  the  readers,  and  so  fail  to  fulfill 
their  functions.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  selection  be 
made  wholly  with  regard  to  the  community's  present 
demands,  the  librarian  may  fall  into  the  error  of  setting 
too  low  a  standard.  A  middle  course  is  best.  The  aver- 
age taste  of  the  users  of  a  public  library  is  not  as  high 
as  it  might  be ;  this,  however,  is  due,  not  to  any  debasing 
influence  of  the  library,  but  to  the  fact  that  it  attracts 
readers  from  classes  whose  taste  needs  improvement. 
The  public  school  is  teaching  everyone  to  read ;  the  pub- 
lic library  is  furnishing  reading  matter.    Between  them 

125 


THE    SELECTION    OF    BOOKS 

the  ratio  of  habitual  readers  to  nonreaders  is  becoming 
increasingly  large.  Owing  to  these  influences  many  pub- 
lic-library readers  betray  the  symptoms  of  intellectual 
youth — they  are  fond  of  narrative;  they  like  simple 
words  and  ideas  clearly  expressed  and  easily  appre- 
hended; their  idea  of  humor  is  often  somewhat  primi- 
tive ;  they  have  more  regard  for  the  substance  of  a  book 
than  for  its  manner;  they  like,  above  all,  plenty  of 
action;  realism  with  them  is  a  secondary  consideration. 
All  these  are  the  characteristics  of  youth;  instead  of 
frowning  upon  them,  the  librarian  must  be  prepared  to 
humor  them,  to  select  books  that  satisfy  such  desires  and 
are  at  the  same  time  good  literature.  Especially  is  this 
true  of  his  choice  of  narrative  literature.  It  is  a  matter 
of  grief  to  ihany  librarians  that  their  libraries  circulate 
so  high  a  percentage  of  fiction.  This  varies  from  forty  up 
to  eighty,  according  to  conditions;  as  a  general  thing,  a 
library  that  circulates  less  than  sixty  per  cent  considers 
that  it  is  doing  fairly  well.  This  high  use  of  fiction, 
however,  is  due  to  several  causes,  most  of  which  are  in 
no  way  discreditable  to  the  public  library.  In  the  first 
place,  fiction  is  now  the  most  readable  form  of  narrative. 
This  is  not  because  it  is  fiction,  but  because  its  writers 
make  a  direct  bid  to  entertain  their  readers  and  need 
net  concern  themselves  with  anything  else.  The  writer 
of  history,  biography,  or  travel,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
primarily  concerned  with  the  accuracy  of  his  narrative ; 
to  write  entertainingly  is  a  secondary  aim  with  him,  and 
is  rarely  attained,  especially  in  the  view  of  the  class  of 
readers  with  whom  we  are  now  dealing.  This  is  a  fault 
not  of  the  librarian,  but  of  the  author.  There  would 
seem  to  be  no  valid  reason  why  true  narrative  should  not 
be  made  as  interesting  as  fictitious  narrative;  that  it  is 

126 


FICTION 

not  so  is  sufficiently  attested  by  the  preference  of  the 
public  for  romance.  The  reader  here  does  not  care  in 
the  least  whether  what  he  reads  about  really  happened 
or  not ;  he  is  simply  looking  for  entertainment. 

In  the  second  place,  the  classes  of  books  borrowed 
from  public  libraries  do  not  necessarily  represent  the 
total  reading  of  those  who  use  these  institutions.  Read- 
ers may,  and  do,  buy  books  of  their  own  and  also  borrow 
from  their  friends.  It  is  probable  that  those  who  do 
this  prefer  to  own  the  more  solid  portion  of  their  read- 
ing, going  to  the  public  library  for  the  lighter  and  more 
ephemeral  books.  Possibly  this  may  partly  account  for 
the  fact  that  better  books  are  often  circulated  by  public 
libraries  in  the  poorer  than  in  the  well-to-do  quarters  of 
cities.  In  three  branch  libraries  on  the  lower  East  Side 
of  New  York  the  fiction  percentage  of  circulation  is,  re- 
spectively, 48,  51,  and  60;  whereas  in  three  libraries  on 
the  upper  West  Side  the  corresponding  figures  are  69, 
70,  and  71.  This  is  usually  regarded  as  showing  a 
greater  desire  for  useful  information  on  the  part  of  the 
poorer  classes,  but  it  may  well  be  due,  perhaps  in  large 
part,  to  the  consideration  just  advanced. 

Again,  the  time  actually  occupied  in  reading  serious 
books  is  much  greater,  proportionately,  than  the  num- 
ber of  books  read.  Thus,  a  man  may  read  one  volume 
of  history,  science,  or  philosophy  and  several  novels, 
and  yet  have  spent  less  than  half  his  time  with  the  fic- 
tion. That  a  report  of  reading  by  days  instead  of  by 
books  might  considerably  reduce  the  fiction  percentage 
is  shown  by  an  actual  trial  of  this  method  in  the  New 
York  Free  Circulating  Library  in  1896,  where  a  percent- 
age of  30.2  in  juvenile  fiction,  calculated  from  books  cir- 
culated, fell  to  23.2  when  based  on  the  length  of  time 

127 


THE    SELECTION    OF    BOOKS 

during  which  the  same  books  were  retained  by  their 
readers. 

There  is,  however,  one  cause  of  large  fiction  percent- 
ages that  may  be  laid  directly  at  the  door  of  the  library, 
and  that  is  its  failure,  in  too  many  cases,  to  provide 
books  for  those  who  desire  to  read  wholly  for  informa- 
tion about  their  daily  occupations.  The  fact  that  such 
books  are  not  provided  causes  many  persons  to  regard 
the  public  library  as  an  institution  solely  for  women  and 
children.  Many  librarians  are  now  realizing  their  short- 
comings in  this  regard,  and  the  result  of  their  efforts  to 
provide  trade  literature  and  the  like  is  set  forth  in  an- 
other chapter.  Probably,  also,  there  has  been  a  tendency 
to  confuse  students'  use  with  reference  use,  and  so  to 
exclude  from  circulation  a  very  large  number  of  serious 
books  that  should  go  to  the  homes  of  the  users  instead  of 
being  kept  in  the  library.  This  fault,  also,  the  up-to- 
date  librarian  is  striving  to  correct. 

When  all  is  said  and  done,  however,  a  large  part  of 
the  circulation  of  a  public  library  will  still  be  fiction, 
and  so  long  as  this  is  of  good  quality  there  is  no  reason 
for  being  ashamed  of  it.  Fiction  is  the  prevailing  mode 
of  literary  expression  to-day — the  vehicle  that  a  writer 
must  use  if  he  desires  to  convey  his  ideas  to  the  maxi- 
mum number  of  readers,  whether  he  has  to  promulgate  a 
social  theory  or  some  new  thoughts  on  municipal  ad- 
ministration. Until  this  vehicle  is  changed,  it  must  be 
fully  recognized  by  the  public  library. 

Class  percentages  of  circulation  are  very  useful 
in  telling  the  librarian  of  the  wants  or  demands  of 
his  community.  If  this  percentage,  for  a  certain 
class,  be  compared  with  the  percentage  of  books  of 
the   same    class    contained    in    the   library,    the    result 

128 


AIDS    IN    SELECTION 

will  often  tell  him  whether  he  is  supplying  a  de- 
mand or  failing  to  do  so.  For  instance,  if  he  is 
circulating  ten  per  cent  of  history  and  has  only  six  per 
cent  on  his  shelves,  his  histories  are  overworked,  and  he 
needs  more.  To  put  the  matter  somewhat  differently, 
suppose  that  in  a  library  of  10,000  volumes,  circulating 
100,000  a  year,  there  are  600  volumes  of  history,  circu- 
lating 10,000  a  year.  The  average  circulation  of  each 
bpok  in  the  library  is  10 ;  that  of  the  history  is  16|.  An 
abnormal  circulation  per  book,  either  in  the  library  as  a 
whole  or  in  some  one  class  is  often  regarded  as  meritori- 
ous; state  commissions  sometimes  call  the  library  with 
the  highest  rate  the  "  banner  *'  library  of  the  state. 
Such  a  circulation  is  indeed  interesting ;  it  is  creditable 
to  the  users  of  the  library,  but  not  to  the  library  itself, 
for  it  shows  simply  that  the  supply  has  not  kept  pace 
with  the  demand. 

Who  is  to  make  selection  of  the  books  for  a  library  ? 
The  ultimate  authority  generally  rests  with  a  committee 
of  the  trustees;  sometimes  with  the  board  itself.  But  if 
the  librarian  knows  his  business,  such  action  will  be  gen- 
erally very  largely  a  ratification  of  his  suggestions,  or  at 
least  a  modification  of  them  in  greater  or  less  degree,  ac- 
cording to  the  amount  of  confidence  placed  in  his  judg- 
ment. Of  course,  no  one  person  can  be  omniscient,  and 
the  librarian  must  rely  largely  on  information  and  ad- 
vice received  from  others  in  making  his  selections.  The 
demands  of  the  public  he  will  learn  from  their  requests 
at  the  desk,  from  the  number  and  character  of  the  re- 
serves, and  from  such  statistical  studies  as  that  sug- 
gested above.  Their  unrealized  needs  he  must  under- 
stand partly  from  personal  knowledge  of  them  and  of 
their  environment,  partly  from  the  sort  of  intuition  that 

129 


THE    SELECTION    OF    BOOKS 

goes  far  toward  making  a  librarian  of  the  first  class. 
The  available  material  he  knows  by  a  close  study  of  cur- 
rent catalogues  and  lists  of  all  kinds,  and  he  evaluates 
it  by  comparison  of  reviews,  by  reports  from  readers, 
and  from  personal  inspection.  If  he  is  in  a  place  large 
enough  to  boast  of  a  good  bookseller,  he  may  inspect 
many  books  on  approval.  Above  all,  he  puts  himself  in 
touch  with  people  who  have  special  knowledge,  each  of 
some  particular  class  of  books — theology,  medicine,  sci- 
ence, sociology,  history,  or  language.  He  refers  to  them 
titles  or,  better  still,  the  books  themselves  for  their  opin- 
ions; and  he  encourages  them  to  report  titles  in  their 
special  fields  that  they  may  meet  in  their  own  reading. 
It  is  usually  not  difficult  to  obtain  the  services  of  such 
experts  gratis;  the  work  that  they  do  for  the  library  is 
more  than  compensated  by  the  opportunity  that  it  af- 
fords to  examine  books  that  they  might  not  otherwise 
see.  The  town  is  small  indeed  that  does  not  contain  at 
least  a  few  persons  of  special  knowledge  who  are  avail- 
able as  library  advisers  in  book  selection.  In  the  way 
of  lists,  every  librarian  should  have  the  Publishers' 
Weekly,  which  gives  all  current  American  and  many 
English  books ;  the  Publishers '  Trade-list  Annual  or  the 
United  States  Catalogue,  for  books  in  print ;  the  Annual 
American  Catalogue  or  the  Cumulative  Book  Index,  and 
the  American  Library  Association  book  list  of  selected 
titles  for  small  libraries,  issued  monthly.  The  Book  Re- 
view Digest  is  also  of  great  use.  Libraries  that  import 
considerably  should  have  at  least  the  Publishers'  Circu- 
lar (weekly)  and  the  English  Catalogue  (annual). 

In  the  exercise  of  his  duties  in  book  selection  it  is 
unavoidable  that  the  librarian  should  act  in  some  degree 
as  a  censor  of  literature.     It  has  been  pointed  out  that 

130 


CENSORSHIP 

no  library  can  buy  every  title  that  is  published,  and  that 
we  should  discriminate  by  picking  out  what  is  best  in- 
stead of  by  excluding  what  is  bad.  This  may  be 
granted;  but  there  will  still  remain  a  large  number  of 
books  that  would  certainly  have  been  bought  but  for 
some  error  in  statement,  morals,  or  taste  that  excludes 
them.  To  recognize  such  errors  and  to  decide  whether 
they  are  sufficient  to  exclude  an  otherwise  desirable  book 
surely  constitutes  censorship.  The  exclusion  of'  nonfic- 
tion  is  generally  on  the  score  of  incorrect  statement  or 
bad  treatment  of  the  subject;  morality  does  not  enter 
into  consideration,  except,  perhaps,  in  certain  descrip- 
tive works.  In  fiction,  on  the  other  hand,  immorality 
and  impropriety  are  frequent  reasons  for  exclusion. 
There  are  few  novels  published  that  should  not  be  read 
from  cover  to  cover  by  some  competent  judge  before  ac- 
ceptance. The  amount  of  labor  incident  to  such  an  ex- 
amination is  considerable.  The  eccentricity  of  library 
readers,  whether  official  or  voluntary,  has  sometimes 
been  such  as  to  call  for  public  comment,  and  librarians 
and  book  committees  should  exercise  their  best  discretion 
in  the  selection  of  such  persons. 

The  small  proportion  of  money  spent  for  books  by 
public  libraries  is  often  commented  upon  by  the  press, 
and  is  sometimes  a  cause  of  complaint  with  boards  of 
trustees  themselves.  Books  being  the  library's  stock  in 
trade  and  the  reason  for  its  existence,  it  is  assumed  that 
the  cost  of  housing  and  handling  them  should  be  com- 
paratively small.  On  the  contrary,  it  largely  exceeds  the 
annual  cost  of  the  books  themselves.  In  the  year  1913 
libraries  reporting  to  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation expended  $14,756,576,  of  which  $2,932,022,  or 
less  than  one-fifth,  was  for  books. 
10  131 


THE    SELECTION    OF    BOOKS 

The  reasons  for  this  are  various.  In  the  first  place, 
it  must  be  remembered  that  the  cost,  as  stated,  is  that  of 
housing  and  handling  not  alone  the  current  purchases 
for  the  year,  which  are  all  that  appear  in  a  table  such  as 
that  given  above,  but  also  all  the  rest  of  the  stock  of 
books,  representing  often  the  accumulations  of  years. 
Thus,  in  the  case  of  a  small  library  that  has  spent  dur- 
ing the  year  $4,000,  of  which  $1,000  was  expended  for  a 
thousand  books  and  the  rest  for  maintenance,  this  resi- 
due of  $3,000  may  have  cared  for  and  distributed  not 
1,000,  but  10,000  volumes,  in  which  case  the  *'  board 
bill  "  for  each  volume  would  be  thirty  cents  a  year.  In 
case  each  book  has  gone  out  ten  times  during  the  year, 
the  cost  of  each  loan  is  only  three  cents.  More  gener- 
ally, if  all  expenses  be  taken  into  account,  this  cost  of 
circulation  in  American  libraries  rises  to  six,  eight,  or 
even  ten  cents  an  issue.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
this  cost  of  maintenance,  to  which  objection  is  some- 
times made,  and  regarding  which  American  libraries  es- 
pecially are  charged  with  extravagance,  may  be  made 
large  or  small  at  will.  If  readers  desire  spacious  and 
handsome  buildings,  frequent  replacement  and  rebind- 
ing  of  books  to  keep  the  stock  in  good  condition,  brilliant 
light,  proper  heating  and  ventilation,  skilled  attendance, 
separate  accommodation  and  care  for  children,  and  such 
auxiliaries  as  exhibitions  and  public  lectures,  they  must 
pay  the  bill.  The  same  is  true  of  taxation  for  all  kinds 
of  public  conveniences  and  improvements.  If  a  town  is 
to  have  good  pavements,  a  plentiful  supply  of  pure  wa- 
ter, electric  light,  fine  schools,  and  a  competent  fire  and 
police  service,  its  tax  rate  will  be  far  higher  than  the 
rate  in  a  place  where  these  things  are  absent  or  of  the 
second  class.     It  is  for  the  citizens  to  decide  how  much 

132 


COST    OF    BOOKS 

they  can  afford.  In  the  case  of  libraries,  the  tendency 
with  us  has  been  to  pay  for  an  increased  number  of 
facilities  and  for  the  best  quality  of  everything ;  and  the 
bill  is  paid  probably  with  less  grumbling  than  that  for 
other  municipal  improvements.  As  Miss  Burstall  re- 
marks in  her  recent  book  on  American  schools,  we  really 
believe  in  education  and  are  willing  to  pay  for  it. 
When  we  grumble  it  is  usually  not  at  the  price,  but  at 
our  failure  to  get  what  we  consider  our  money's  worth. 

Again,  when  expenses  are  cut  down,  it  is  usually  the 
outlay  for  books  that  must  suffer,  for  most  of  the  other 
library  expenses  are  either  fixed  or  highly  inflexible. 
Such  are  the  upkeep  of  the  building,  its  lighting  and 
heating,  insurance,  the  salaries  of  the  minimum  number 
of  assistants  necessary  to  care  for  and  oversee  the  work- 
ing space,  etc.  In  the  case  of  the  library  with  an  in- 
come of  $4,000,  cited  aboye,  if  the  town  found  it  neces- 
sary to  reduce  this  to  $3,500,  it  is  probable  that  the 
only  way  to  meet  this  reduction  would  be  by  cutting  the 
book  appropriation  in  half.  Unpopular  as  this  step 
would  prove,  it  would  be  preferred  by  the  public  to  cut- 
ting the  hours  of  opening,  turning  out  part  of  the  lights, 
or  letting  the  building  run  down. 

As  has  been  noted  above,  the  more  or  less  frequent  re- 
placement of  soiled  and  worn  books  is  a  considerable 
item  of  expense,  and  in  this  connection  the  purchase  of 
duplicates,  especially  for  circulation,  must  be  consid- 
ered. The  librarian  must  always  decide  how  much  of 
his  annual  outlay  for  books  is  to  be  set  aside  for  these 
purposes.  In  regard  to  the  discarding  of  worn-out  or 
soiled  books,  the  widest  disparity  of  custom  prevails. 
Some  libraries  allow  books  to  remain  on  the  shelves  in 
disgraceful  condition — either  badly  soiled,  or  torn,  or 

133 


THE    SELECTION    OF    BOOKS 

defaced ;  while  others  are  so  particular  that  they  remove 
books  in  fairly  good  condition,  merely  for  a  smudge  or 
two  or  a  microscopic  tear.  This  difference  is  sometimes, 
but  not  always,  the  result  of  inequality  of  income.  In 
some  libraries,  where  an  attempt  is  made  to  keep  the 
stock  in  as  nearly  perfect  condition  as  possible,  the  best 
of  the  books  removed  from  the  shelves  are  utilized  by 
sending  them  to  prisons  or  to  hospitals,  or  to  other 
places  where  they  may  be  allowed  to  remain  until  com- 
pletely worn  out. 

When  a  book  is  thus  removed,  the  propriety  of  its  re- 
placement should  be  at  once  considered.  In  a  great 
majority  of  cases  the  decision  can  be  made  at  once,  so 
that  the  title,  if  the  book  is  an  only  copy,  may  be  re- 
moved at  once  from  the  catalogue  or  the  volume  may  be 
reordered.  It  is  often  well  to  anticipate  the  removal  of 
popular  books  by  ordering  duplicates  in  advance,  so  that 
the  number  on  the  shelves  may  be  kept  up.  It  is  prob- 
able that  librarians  in  too  many  cases  replace  books  that 
have  outlived  their  usefulness,  either  thoughtlessly  and 
almost  automatically  or  because  they  attach  an  exagger- 
ated importance  to  the  retention  of  titles  already  in  the 
catalogue.  Out-of-date  books,  essays,  travels,  and  fiction 
of  merely  temporary  value,  superseded  text-books  and 
treatises,  should  not  be  replaced.  The  other  extreme 
must,  of  course,  be  avoided — namely,  the  failure  to  re- 
place good  or  standard  works  in  order  to  spend  more 
money  on  current  publications  of  less  value. 

In  regard  to  duplication,  customs  also  vary  widely. 
It  is  probably  the  fairest  method  to  base  it  in  some  way 
on  demand.  For  instance,  a  new  copy  may  be  purchased 
for  every  ten  names  (we  will  say)  on  the  reserve  list,  or 
for  less  in  case  of  nonfiction.    Libraries  that  are  able  to 

134 


DUPLICATES 

use  the  pay-duplicate  system  for  fiction  often  find  that 
this  system  solves  the  greater  part  of  the  problem  for 
them.  In  case  of  branch  systems,  large  duplication  is 
often  necessary.  In  the  New  York  system  of  forty 
branches  the  number  of  volumes  is  about  ten  times  the 
number  of  titles,  indicating  a  corresponding  average 
duplication.  There  may  be,  in  the  whole  system,  several 
hundred  copies  of  one  title.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
operation  of  an  interbranch  loan  system  in  such  a  net- 
work of  libraries  considerably  reduces  the  number  of 
copies  in  certain  cases.  Thus,  if  we  consider  forty  libra- 
ries in  forty  separate  towns,  it  would  probably  be  neces- 
sary for  each  to  purchase  a  copy  of  a  recent  expensive 
biography  of  a  statesman  or  man  of  letters ;  whereas,  if 
the  forty  were  in  one  city,  ten  copies  might  be  quite  suf- 
ficient to  supply  the  demand,  these  being  freely  ex- 
changed among  the  branches.  A  similarly  free  inter- 
library  loan  system  would  evidently  make  possible  great 
economies  in  book  purchase  among  the  libraries  of  a 
region.  The  possibility  of  such  free  exchange  appears 
to  be  largely  conditioned  on  the  reduction  of  postage  on 
library  books. 

If  the  purchase  of  duplicates  has  been  properly  pro- 
portioned to  the  demand,  a  library  is  not  often  left  with 
unused  duplicates  on  its  hands.  As  the  demand  lessens, 
worn-out  duplicates  are  not  replaced,  until  finally  the 
number  of  copies  necessary  to  supply  the  permanent 
requirements  of  the  library  is  reached,  and  these  are,  of 
course,  replaced  continually  when  necessary.  In  case  of 
some  books,  the  last  copy  may  be  allowed  to  drop  out 
and  the  entry  may  be  removed  from  the  catalogues ;  with 
others,  such  as  perennially  popular  fiction — "  David 
Copperfield  *'  or  **  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,'*  for  instance— 

135 


THE    SELECTION    OF    BOOKS 

it  may  be  necessary  to  keep  hundreds  of  copies  for  lend- 
ing in  a  large  library  or  system  of  branches. 

There  are  some  books  that  may  properly  and  profit- 
ably be  duplicated  far  beyond  whatever  rule  may  have 
been  adopted  for  general  use  in  this  regard.  So  many 
copies  of  these  should  be  purchased  that  at  least  one  is 
always  on  the  shelves  and  that  reserve  lists  for  them  are 
never  necessary.  Such  are  the  popular  standard  poets — 
Longfellow,  Tennyson,  Browning — and  much  standard 
fiction — half  a  dozen  of  Dickens,  as  many  of  Scott; 
**  Romola,'*  *'  Treasure  Island,"  and  so  on.  Every  li- 
brary and  every  community  will  have  its  own  list. 
There  are  always  in  great  demand  certain  books  of  such 
merit  that  the  public  should  not  be  compelled  to  wait 
for  them. 

Of  course,  there  is  often  a  sudden  and  unusual  de- 
mand for  books  of  this  character,  as  when  "  Ivanhoe  " 
or  Goldsmith's  ''  Deserted  Village  "  is  assigned  as  the 
subject  of  a  school  composition.  In  a  branch  system  this 
may  be  met  by  a  traveling  collection,  to  be  placed  wher- 
ever it  may  be  needed  at  the  moment. 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE  PURCHASE  OF   BOOKS 

The  purchase  of  books  by  a  library  may  be  said  to 
include  everything  done  after  the  selection  of  the  title 
to  be  added,  until  the  book  itself  is  delivered  to  those 
responsible  for  its  preparation  for  the  shelves.  This  in- 
cludes operations  incident  to  the  ordering  of  the  book 
and  to  its  receipt.  The  ordering  includes  (1)  the  esti- 
mation of  the  price  and  the  making  of  a  proper  memc- 
randum  thereof;  (2)  the  sending  of  the  order  to  the 
bookseller,  with  retention  of  a  memorandum.  The  re- 
ceipt includes  (1)  comparison  of  the  actual  book  with 
the  duplicate  or  memorandum  of  the  order  and  (2)  with 
the  bill,  making  a  check  against  the  proper  item;  (3)  en- 
tering in  the  book  in  pencil  such  data  as  may  be  neces- 
sary in  accessioning  it,  such  as  the  source  and  the  price ; 
(4)  comparing  the  estimated  price  with  the  actual  cost 
as  shown  by  the  bill.  If  there  are  branch  libraries 
among  which  the  books  are  distributed,  these  processes 
must  be  more  complicated,  as  noted  in  the  chapter  on 
that  subject. 

Taking  up  these  items  one  by  one,  the  estimation  and 
recording  of  the  price  previous  to  sending  the  order  are 
necessary  chiefly  because  a  variable  time  is  to  elapse 
before  the  receipt  of  the  bill — sometimes  several  weeks, 
or  even  months,  in  case  of  importation — and  it  is  desir- 
able to  know  just  how  far  the  library  has  gone  toward 

137 


THE    PURCHASE    OF    BOOKS 

using  up  the  appropriation  for  books,  or  some  definite 
fund  or  part  thereof.  In  sending  the  order  to  the  book- 
seller, the  retained  memorandum,  which  is  kept  on  file 
until  its  release  by  the  arrival  of  the  book,  may  be  an 
exact  duplicate  of  the  order,  or  may  be  made  in  some 
other  way.  In  ordering  books  it  should  be  stipulated 
that  there  should  be  a  bill  for  each  box  or  package,  that 
the  items  should  be  arranged  alphabetically  by  authors, 
and  that  the  package  be  not  too  large.  This  facilitates 
checking.  Comparison  of  actual  costs  with  those  esti- 
mated before  purchase  need  not  be  made  book  for  book, 
but  only  weekly  or  monthly,  in  bulk,  to  avoid  too  great 
a  discrepancy. 

In  these  operations  a  slip  may  be  used  for  each  order, 
or  a  sheet  for  each  set  of  orders,  or  a  combination  of  the 
two.  Slip  or  card  systems  have  the  advantage  of  easy 
arrangement  and  rearrangement  and  the  disadvantage 
that  a  single  slip  may  be  easily  mislaid  or  lost.  A  sam- 
ple system  may  be  operated  somewhat  as  follows :  Each 
separate  title  comes  to  the  department  or  person  charged 
with  ordering  the  books,  written  on  an  order  slip,  which 
has  blanks  for  author,  title,  publisher,  source  of  pur- 
chase, price,  and  the  various  dates  of  ordering,  receipt, 
delivery  to  shelves,  etc.,  and  also  for  the  name  of  the  per- 
son recommending  the  purchase,  remarks,  the  book  com- 
mittee's stamp  of  approval,  etc.  After  scrutinizing  the 
slip  to  see  that  all  necessary  formalities  have  been  ob- 
served, the  order  clerk  estimates  the  probable  cost  and 
enters  it  in  his  memorandum  book  under  the  heading  of 
the  proper  fund.  It  is  better  to  place  the  list  price  on 
the  slip,  leaving  it  to  the  clerk  to  estimate  the  cost  to  the 
library  from  his  knowledge  of  the  condition  of  the  mar- 
ket.    Slips  are  then  distributed  by  sources  of  purchase 

138 


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Hill  \ 

139 


THE    PURCHASE    OF    BOOKS 

and  arranged  alphabetically  under  these.  Those  for 
each  source  are  copied  on  a  separate  order  blank,  which 
is  mailed  to  the  bookseller's  address,  the  slips  being 
stamped  with  the  proper  date  and  held  on  file  as  memo- 
randa of  the  order.  On  receipt  of  a  package  of  books 
with  bill,  each  book  is  compared  with  the  latter,  the  cor- 
responding item  being  checked,  and  with  the  order  slip, 
which  is  stamped  with  the  date  of  receipt  and  then  trans- 
ferred to  a  permanent  alphabetical  file,  unless  other 
dates  are  to  be  recorded  upon  it,  such  as  those  of  cata- 
loguing and  shelving,  in  which  case  it  is  sent  on  with 
the  book.  When  comparison  is  being  made  with  the 
bill,  price  and  source  are  noted  and  penciled  on  a  fly  leaf 
of  the  bock,  to  be  erased  after  being  used  as  data  in 
accessioning. 

Slips  remaining  in  the  temporary  file  represent  short 
orders,  and  their  value  should  evidently  correspond  to 
that  cf  the  books  ordered  less  the  totals  of  bills  received. 
Instead  of  keeping  the  slips  on  file,  they  may  be  sent  to 
the  bookseller  as  his  order,  and  a  memorandum  of  each 
order,  on  sheets,  may  be  filed ;  or,  besides  the  temporary 
file  of  slips,  a  carbon  or  other  copy  of  each  order  sheet 
may  be  kept ;  or  the  slips  may  be  made  in  duplicate,  one 
set  being  sent  to  the  bookseller  as  his  order  and  the 
other  retained.  Order  slips  have  been  combined  with 
catalogue  or  shelf-list  cards,  the  permanent  file  consti- 
tuting the  official  catalogue  or  shelf  list.  As  many  as 
three  slips  may  be  written  at  once,  the  duplicate  set 
being  used  as  the  basis  of  copy  for  a  printed  or  mimeo- 
graphed bulletin  of  additions  or  as  orders  by  title  for 
the  printed  catalogue  cards  issued  by  the  Congressional 
Library.  In  any  case,  the  permanent  file  left  after  the 
receipt  of  the  book  should  constitute  a  complete  dated 

140 


BOOKSELLERS 

history  of  the  order,  enabling  the  librarian  to  ascertain 
at  once,  in  case  of  need,  who  recommended  a  given 
book;  who  read  it  on  approval,  if  it  was  so  read;  when 
its  purchase  was  authorized,  when  it  was  ordered,  when 
received,  and  so  on.  These  data  are  as  important  to  a 
small  library  as  to  a  large  one,  and  orders  should  be  re- 
corded methodically  in  this  way,  even  if  the  librarian 
herself  performs  all  the  different  operations  indicated. 

In  case  more  than  one  copy  of  a  book  is  ordered  at  a 
time,  the  same  slip  may  serve  for  all,  the  number  being 
entered  with  the  title.  This  is  objectionable  only  in  case 
the  order  cannot  be  filled  all  at  once,  when  the  receipt- 
ing of  the  slip  involves  trouble  and  there  is  risk  of  con- 
fusion. A  separate  slip  may  be  made  for  each  copy; 
but  this  involves  much  extra  labor  when  the  number  of 
copies  is  considerable. 

In  some  libraries  bills  are  now  so  made  out  and 
treated  that  when  checked  and  preserved  they  constitute 
an  accession  record,  obviating  the  necessity  of  keeping  a 
separate  accession-book.  This  and  the  use  of  order  cards 
in  a  catalogue  are  merely  examples  of  various  ways  in 
which  the  labors  of  the  book-order  and  the  catalogue 
departments  may  be  lessened  by  combination.  Such  a 
combination  is  in  successful  operation  in  some  libra- 
ries. 

As  regards  the  source  of  purchase,  there  is  much  to 
be  said  in  favor  of  a  local  bookseller,  if  he  be  a  man  of 
intelligence.  Encouragement  of  such  a  man  means  the 
support  of  an  expert  to  whom  the  librarian  can  turn  fcr 
advice  in  many  directions,  and  whose  preservation  may 
be  worth  some  little  additional  expense.  In  case  of  large 
purchases,  it  is  well,  as  a  matter  of  policy,  to  divide  the 
library  order  between  at  least  two  firms.    The  reward  of 

141 


THE    PURCHASE    OF    BOOKS 

better  service  from  one  may  be  an  increased  proportion 
of  the  business  and  will  serve  as  a  stimulant  to  the  other 
dealer. 

Secondhand  books  should  be  bought  sparingly,  if  at 
all,  for  circulation.  The  reduction  in  price  is  seldom  in 
proportion  to  the  deterioration  of  the  book,  and  such 
deterioration  often  does  not  appear  on  the  surface.  In 
case  of  a  book  not  for  circulation,  to  be  little  used,  de- 
terioration may  not  count;  the  book  may  last  indefi- 
nitely, even  if  it  has  been  weakened  by  use.  But  in  case 
of  a  book  for  circulation,  which  is  to  be  freely  handled, 
the  practical  value  to  the  library  depends  on  the  number 
of  issues  that  it  will  stand;  and  if  a  secondhand  book 
will  stand  only  five  issues  instead  of  fifty,  it  is  obviously 
worth  to  the  library  only  one  tenth  the  price  of  a  new 
book,  and  would  be  dear  even  at  quarter  price. 

This  same  consideration  of  the  probable  life  of  a 
book,  as  determined  by  the  number  of  issues,  must  also 
determine  whether  the  book  is  or  is  not  to  be  placed  in 
strong  binding  at  the  outset.  So  far  as  this  is  a  binder's 
problem,  it  is  treated  in  another  chapter.  So  far  as  it 
involves  the  securing  of  the  book  in  sheets,  it  is,  how- 
ever, a  problem  of  purchase.  It  is  not  an  easy  matter  to 
secure  the  sheets,  unless  the  book  is  to  be  ordered  in 
large  quantities.  Binders  who  make  a  business  of  bind- 
ing up  new  books  from  the  sheets  for  library  use  find  it 
possible  to  make  business  arrangements  with  some  pub- 
lishers to  be  supplied  with  a  sufficient  number  of  the 
sheets  for  their  customers,  before  the  day  of  publication, 
so  that  the  book  may  be  bound  and  delivered  to  the 
library  as  soon  as  it  could  be  purchased  in  publisher's 
covers.  Other  publishers,  however,  still  refuse  abso- 
lutely to  sell  sheets,  alleging  that  it  does  not  pay  to  pick 

142 


SUBSCRIPTION   BOOKS 

out  and  make  up  sets,  and  this  necessitates  buying  their 
books  in  publishers'  covers,  tearing  these  off,  and  rebind- 
ing,  with  the  result  that  the  books  are  not  so  strong  as 
if  bound  directly  from  sheets.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  ere 
long  unsewed  assemblages  of  sheets  will  be  recognized 
articles  of  commerce  in  the  American  book  trade,  so  that 
purchasers  may  bind  to  suit  their  taste  and  to  fit  the 
usage  that  the  book  is  to  receive. 

Librarians  are  regarded  by  the  agents  for  subscrip- 
tion books  as  fair  game.  Books  sold  in  this  way  may  be 
roughly  divided  into  two  classes — those  that  are  too 
costly  to  be  disposed  of  through  the  ordinary  channels 
of  trade,  and  those  that  are  inferior  in  some  way  or 
priced  higher  than  they  ought  to  be,  so  that  they  cannot 
be  sold  in  any  way  except  through  personal  solicitation. 
In  the  first  class  are  included  expensive  art  books,  edi- 
tions de  luxe,  good  sets  in  costly  bindings,  etc.,  most  of 
which  are  not  needed  by  any  library,  although  some 
are  adapted  for  the  larger  institutions.  The  only  works 
in  this  class  that  may  be  considered  by  the  smaller  libra- 
ries are  certain  reference  works,  such  as  dictionaries  and 
cyclopedias,  that  are  not  issued  otherwise  than  by  sub- 
scription. Even  these  may  often  be  bought  in  condition 
as  new  from  secondhand  dealers,  to  whom  they  have 
been  sent  by  purchasers  persuaded  against  their  will  by 
the  silver-tongued  agent.  The  second  class  of  subscrip- 
tion books  includes  innumerable  **  sets,"  formed  by  re- 
printing standard  works  that  may  be  classed  together  in 
some  way,  often  with  a  well-known  name,  as  that  of 
editor,  and  brief  copyrighted  introductions;  worthless 
reprints  of  out-of-date  reference  books,  with  scanty  up- 
to-date  additions ;  and  books  of  little  value,  compiled  with 
a  view  to  attracting  a  particular  class  of  purchasers,  as 

143 


THE    PURCHASE    OF    BOOKS 

those  of  some  one  religious  denomination,  veterans  of  the 
Civil  War,  or  mechanics  unfamiliar  with  their  own  trade 
literature.  The  sensible  librarian  steers  clear  of  all 
these,  and  either  adopts  the  plan  of  not  purchasing  books 
from  agents  at  all,  or  of  never  deciding  or  making  a 
promise,  written  or  verbal,  in  the  agent's  presence.  Li- 
brarians of  small  libraries  are  often  led,  by  their  desire 
to  be  up  to  date,  to  replace  their  editions  of  standard 
reference  books  by  later  ones  on  the  advice  of  agents. 
This  should  never  be  done  without  thorough  examina- 
tion. The  publishers  of  most  good  books  of  this  kind 
cut  the  plates  at  intervals  for  brief  additions  and  cor- 
rections, and  impressions  containing  such  changes  are 
often  represented  by  the  agents  as  ''  new  editions  "  or 
''  the  latest  revision."  On  the  other  hand,  a  really 
new  and  enlarged  edition  or  complete  revision  of 
such  a  work  should  always  be  purchased  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. 

A  New  York  club,  through  its  library  committee,  re- 
ceived complaints  from  many  members  that  its  edition 
of  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica  was  not  up  to  date,  and 
placed  an  order  for  a  new  set.  The  set  owned  by  the 
club  was  in  reality  the  latest  edition,  and  the  complain- 
ants had  been  misled  by  the  condition  of  the  binding. 
Fortunately  the  facts  were  discovered  in  time  to  prevent 
the  expenditure  of  a  considerable  sum  for  a  set  of  vol- 
umes that  would  have  differed  in  no  respect  from  the 
old  ones  except  in  their  shiny  clothing.  This  illustrates 
the  importance  of  personal  knowledge  and  of  actual  com- 
parison of  editions  in  all  cases  of  this  kind. 

Auction  sales  of  books  are  the  source  of  many  valu- 
able purchases  for  large  libraries  and  are  w^ell  worth 
being  watched  by  small  ones.    Book  auctioneers  in  large 

144 


OUT-OF-PRINT    BOOKS 

cities  will  send  their  catalogues  regularly  on  application 
and  bids  may  be  sent  in  by  mail.  In  case  it  is  desired  to 
bid  regularly,  however,  it  is  well  to  put  the  matter  into 
the  hands  of  a  trustworthy  agent  who  will  attend  the 
sales  personally  and  on  whose  judgment,  in  bidding,  re- 
liance may  be  placed. 

In  purchasing  titles  selected  from  lists,  the  librarian 
finds  that  many  are  out  of  print,  either  because  the  list 
is  old  or  because  the  compiler  has  purposely  included 
certain  out-of-print  books  in  his  list,  wishing  to  make  it 
as  complete  as  possible.  The  fact  that  books  are  out  of 
print  should  always  be  noted  in  a  list  intended  as  a 
guide  for  purchase,  but  it  is  not  generally  so  noted ;  and 
the  result  is  much  annoyance,  both  to  librarians  and  to 
dealers.  A  report  that  a  work  is  **  0.  P.^'  (out  of 
print),  however,  does  not  always  mean  the  same  thing. 
If  received  from  a  bookseller,  it  may  mean  simply  that 
the  American  editions  are  exhausted,  and  it  may  still  be 
very  easy  to  obtain  the  book  by  importation.  If  given 
by  a  publisher,  it  usually  means  simply  that  his  own  edi- 
tion is  out  of  print ;  the  book  may  be  easily  available  in 
a  dozen  other  forms.  If  all  editions  are  really  exhausted, 
it  may  be  that,  owing  to  lack  of  demand,  the  book  will 
never  be  reprinted,  or  it  may  be  that  the  work  is  simply 
unavailable  temporarily,  another  edition  being  in  prep- 
aration. Books  temporarily  or  recently  out  of  print, 
and  even  some  that  have  been  long  in  this  condition, 
may  be  picked  up  at  secondhand  or  found  by  advertis- 
ing. This  course  seldom  pays  in  a  popular  library 
for  circulation,  as  the  secondhand  copy  soon  wears  out 
and  the  search  must  be  repeated,  often  at  a  brief  in- 
terval. 

Publishers  sometimes  report  a  book  ''  out  of  stock." 
145 


THE    PURCHASE    OF   BOOKS 

This  report  differs  little  from  "  out  of  print/'  except 
that  it  may  be  taken  to  imply  that  there  is  an  intention 
to  reprint,  or,  at  any  rate,  that  there  has  been  no  de- 
cision not  to  do  so ;  whereas  ' '  out  of  print  ' '  means  that 
there  is  no  present  intention  of  issuing  another  impres- 
sion. 

Libraries  often  find  that  there  is  a  steady  demand 
for  out-of-print  books,  and  yet  publishers  report  that 
they  have  no  evidence  that  reprinting  would  pay.  In 
some  cases  this  is  doubtless  bad  judgment  on  the  part  of 
the  publisher,  the  library  demand  being  an  evidence 
that  there  would  be  a  similar  demand  for  the  reprinted 
work  if  placed  on  sale.  In  other  cases,  however,  there 
may  be  no  such  probability,  the  library  demand  being 
simply  due  to  library  habit.  Be  this  as  it  may,  efforts 
on  the  part  of  librarians  to  induce  publishers  to  reprint 
such  books  have  not  been  generally  successful.  In  a  few 
cases  where  reprints  have  been  made  the  sale  has  been 
small,  even  among  libraries  that  have  reported  a  desire 
to  see  the  books  reissued.  With  some  exceptions,  there- 
fore, the  conclusion  may  be  justified  that  the  publishers 
know  their  own  business  best  in  this  regard. 

A  New  York  bookseller,  encouraged  by  the  persistent 
library  demand  for  a  certain  set  of  out-of-print  books, 
made  an  arrangement  with  the  London  owners  of  the 
plates  to  print  a  small  edition.  The  London  publisher 
did  as  he  agreed,  and  then  arguing  that  the  American 
order  indicated  a  reviving  American  demand,  issued  an 
edition  of  his  own,  with  which  he  proceeded  at  once  to 
undersell  the  American  dealer  in  his  own  market.  This 
was  financially  profitable  to  libraries,  but  scarcely  en- 
couraging to  others  who  might  have  been  thinking  of 
imitating  this  venture. 

146 


EDITIONS 

In  purchasing  standard  books,  especially  those  on 
which  copyright  has  expired,  there  is  generally  wide 
choice  among  editions,  and  the  librarian  must  select  that 
best  adapted  to  his  purpose.  He  may  rely  for  this  on 
such  partial  lists  as  those  issued  by  the  American  Li- 
brary Association  Committee  on  Book  Buying  and  by 
Leroy  Jeffers,  of  the  New  York  Public  Library,  but  such 
rapidly  become  out  of  date,  and  personal  knowledge  is 
necessary  to  make  a  judicious  selection.  What  is  needed 
is  ordinarily  strong  paper,  clear  type  of  moderate  size, 
a  strong,  black  impression,  sewing  that  w^ll  stand  the 
strain  of  repeated  handling,  and  a  cover  with  stout 
joints.  All  this  is  very  hard  to  find,  as  an  original  com- 
bination. The  book,  if  it  is  to  have  the  wear  of  circu- 
lation, will  ordinarily  have  to  be  bound  specially  for 
that  end,  and  all  that  the  purchaser  need  look  out  for  is 
paper  that  will  stand  such  binding.  These  matters  are 
considered  in  detail  in  the  chapter  on  Binding.  As  re- 
gards type,  much  is  used  that  is  so  small  as  to  be  abso- 
lutely unfit  for  a  public  library.  Even  where  the  type 
was  originally  legible,  broken  or  worn  letters  often  spoil 
the  book,  and  there  is  no  excuse  for  such  a  volume 
remaining  on  the  market.  As  for  illustrations,  other 
things  being  equal,  fiction  is  better  without  them.  If 
there  is  no  pictureless  edition,  one  should  be  chosen 
where  the  pictures  are  not  lightly  fastened  in  with 
paste,  ready  to  flutter  out  on  the  slightest  provocation. 
In  the  case  of  a  work  of  travel,  full  of  interesting  repro- 
ductions of  original  photographs,  like  many  of  the  Arc- 
tic books  of  recent  years,  the  edition  that  has  these  in 
their  entirety  should  be  sought.  Some  complete  reprints 
of  the  text,  especially  English  reprints  of  American 
books,  or  the  reverse,  leave  out  some  or  all  of  the  pic- 
11  147 


THE    PURCHASE    OF    BOOKS 

tures.  In  case  the  photographs  are  of  no  particular 
interest,  or  have  been  inserted  merely  as  ' '  padding, ' ' 
the  pictureless  edition  may  be  preferred  here  also. 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  the  selection  of 
proper  editions  for  purchase  has  not  received  adequate 
attention  among  librarians.  There  is  no  royal  road  to 
success  in  it,  and  few  guideposts  by  the  way.  Some- 
times the  lowest-priced  book  may  be  selected,  regardless 
cf  its  actual  cheapness,  reckoned  from  its  cost  per  prob- 
able unit  of  issue.  Sometimes  the  cost  may  be  properly 
reckoned,  but  no  account  taken  of  faults,  like  unduly 
small  type,  that  will  render  the  book  useless  to  most 
readers  and  injure  the  health  of  others;  or,  again,  bad 
taste  may  be  fostered  by  poor  printing  and  worse  pic- 
tures. 

Book  prices  in  the  United  States  are  greatly  affected 
by  the  existence  of  the  American  Publishers'  Associa- 
tion, a  body  whose  object  is  to  maintain  the  price  set 
upon  the  book  by  its  publisher.  The  Association  pre- 
scribes that  when  a  book  is  published  "net"  the  price 
shall  be  maintained  for  one  year,  the  discount  to  book- 
sellers and  others  being  limited  during  this  period.  For 
such  books,  now  including  all  important  new  works, 
except  some  fiction,  the  discount  to  libraries  is  fixed  at 
one  tenth.  Formerly  the  members  of  the  Association 
bound  themselves  to  refuse  to  do  business  with  book- 
sellers cutting  prices,  but  such  agreement  having  been 
pronounced  illegal  by  the  courts,  the  Association  now 
simply  "recommends"  this  action  to  its  members.  The 
Stevens-Ayres  bill,  introduced  into  Congress  in  1916, 
legalized  price-fixation  of  this  kind,,  but  in  the  latest 
draft,  free  libraries  were  excepted  from  its  provisions. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  Association  does  not  deter- 
148 


PUBLISHERS'    ASSOCIATION 

mine  prices  or  give  any  opinion  as  to  what  is  a  fair 
price,  but  merely  endeavors  to  maintain  whatever  price 
may  have  been  set  upon  a  book  by  its  publisher,  it  being 
assumed  that  the  public  will  protect  itself  against  extor- 
tion by  refusal  to  purchase.  Previous  to  the  formation 
of  the  Association  list  prices  of  books  meant  little  or 
nothing.  Everyone  was  able  to  obtain  a  discount  on 
some  pretext  or  other,  and  libraries  could  not  infre- 
quently count  on  forty,  fifty,  or  even  sixty  per  cent  off. 
To  meet  these  cuts  it  was  necessary  to  place  the  nominal 
or  list  price  at  a  high  figure,  and  it  was  generally  antici- 
pated that  the  maintenance  of  list  prices  to  the  public, 
with  reduced  discounts  to  libraries,  would  be  accompa- 
nied by  a  drop  in  the  list  price,  so  that  the  actual  cost  to 
the  purchaser  would  not  be  much,  if  at  all,  increased. 
List  prices,  however,  have  been  pretty  well  kept  up,  so 
that  the  ' '  net  ' '  books,  including  most  new  current  pub- 
lications, cost  libraries  more  than  they  formerly  did.  To 
justify  this,  publishers  point  to  the  increased  cost  of  pro- 
duction and  to  the  higher  royalties  demanded  by  suc- 
cessful authors.  As  regards  non-net  books,  including 
most  of  the  standard  works  of  literature,  their  price  has 
not  been  greatly  increased,  and  libraries  making  large 
purchases  may  obtain  thirty-six  to  forty  per  cent  dis- 
count, or  even  a  little  more. 

A  free  public  library  may,  as  a  public  educational 
institution,  import  dutiable  books  duty  free.  It  may 
also,  by  provision  of  the  Copyright  Act,  import  classes 
of  works  whose  entry  into  the  country  is  prohibited  ex- 
cept under  certain  restrictions,  the  only  limitations  being 
that  pirated  works  may  not  be  imported  at  all,  and  that 
books  copyrighted  both  here  and  abroad  may  be  brought 
in  only  one  at  a  time.    Effort  has  been  made  on  various 

149 


THE    PURCHASE    OF   BOOKS 

occasions  to  prohibit  the  importation  of  foreign  copy- 
right editions  of  American  copyright  books,  or  at  least 
of  those  originating  in  the  United  States,  without  per- 
mission of  the  American  copyright  owner;  but  this  has 
been  unsuccessful. 

No  definition  of  *'  pirated  '*  books  appears  in  the 
act.  Such  are  generally  understood  to  be  all  works  pro- 
duced without  permission  of  the  copyright  owner;  but 
in  a  strictly  legal  sense  the  term  is  probably  limited  to 
those  so  produced  in  violation  of  law.  Thus,  American 
copyright  works  reprinted  in  England  or  English  copy- 
right works  reprinted  in  America  before  there  was  any 
international  copyright  agreement  were  generally  called 
*'  piratical,"  although  quite  within  the  legal  rights  of 
the  reprinter.  On  the  other  hand,  an  English  unauthor- 
ized reprint  of  an  English  copyright  book  is  clearly 
piratical ;  and  yet,  if  the  book  has  not  secured  American 
copyright,  the  law  would  probably  not  interfere  with 
the  importation  of  the  reprint.  Unauthorized  reprints 
of  books  copyrighted  in  both  countries,  whether  printed 
in  one  or  the  other  country,  are  clearly  forbidden  intro- 
duction by  the  law.  Books  copyrighted  in  England,  but 
not  here,  may,  of  course,  be  imported,  as  not  subject  to 
American  copyright  restriction.  This  fact  and  the  per- 
mission, not  yet  withheld,  to  import,  one  at  a  time,  the 
English  editions  of  works  copyrighted  in  both  countries, 
together  with  the  privilege  of  exemption  from  duty, 
often  enable  the  librarian  to  save  money  and  secure  a 
better  edition  by  purchasing  abroad.  This  is  not  always 
the  case,  and  a  comparison  of  prices  and  editions  is  often 
necessary  before  deciding — an  operation  easier  for  a 
large  library  than  a  small  one. 

Large  libraries  often  have  their  purchasing  agents  in 
150 


IMPORTATIONS 

the  chief  book  centers  abroad,  but  the  easiest  way  to  im- 
port is  to  order  directly  from  an  American  importing 
bookseller,  who  will  attend  to  all  the  necessary  formali- 
ties and  charge  a  flat  price  of  so  much  per  shilling, 
franc,  or  mark. 


CHAPTER    XII 

CLASSIFICATION 

Classification  has  two  objects — to  aid  the  librarian 
and  to  aid  the  public.  As  the  latter  is  the  ultimate  ob- 
ject of  all  library  schemes  and  appliances,  perhaps  it 
would  be  better  to  say  that  the  objects  are  to  aid  the 
librarian  in  helping  the  public  and  to  aid  the  public  in 
helping  themselves.  Classification — the  grouping  of  the 
titles  in  some  systematic  way — does  not,  of  course,  neces- 
sarily imply  the  marking  of  the  books  in  accordance 
with  the  scheme,  or  any  corresponding  arrangement  on 
the  shelves;  but  it  has  come  to  include  both  these,  in  so 
far  at  least  as  the  main  groupings  of  the  classification 
are  concerned.  In  some  respects  a  class  may  exist 
merely  for  cataloguing  purposes.  It  is,  indeed,  impossi- 
ble to  place  a  book  on  the  shelves  in  two  classes,  though 
it  may  logically  belong  to  both;  while  it  is,  of  course, 
easy  to  make  as  many  entries  for  it  as  desired  and  to 
arrange  these  in  as  many  groups  as  we  wish.  In  order 
to  realize  the  ways  in  which  classification  assists  the 
reader,  both  directly  and  through  the  aid  that  it  gives 
the  librarian,  let  us  suppose  that  the  books  are  unclassi- 
fied and  arranged  on  the  shelves  as  they  are  added  to 
the  stock — as  a  librarian  would  say,  in  the  order  of  ac- 
cession numbers.  This  method  of  arrangement  "was  in 
vogue  in  small  libraries  not  many  years  ago,  and  may 
still  be  seen  in  some  places.     Its  disadvantages  are  not 

152 


AID    TO    THE    READER 

obtrusive  so  long  as  the  number  of  volumes  is  small — 
not  more  than  two  or  three  hundred,  perhaps.  A  glance 
suffices  to  run  over  the  titles,  and  a  frequent  user  of  the 
library  has  them  pretty  well  in  mind  without  looking  at 
them.  But  when  the  library  grows  much  beyond  this 
the  arrangement  is  soon  felt  to  be  unwieldy.  Something 
is  needed  to  enable  the  user  to  see  at  a  glance  the  re- 
sources of  the  library  in  a  particular  line,  or  to  be  able, 
when  he  fails  to  find  a  book  for  which  he  is  looking,  to 
turn  at  once  to  others  on  the  same  subject.  If  the 
shelves  are  closed,  it  is  not  necessary  for  his  direct  aid 
that  there  be  a  classified  shelf  arrangement — a  grouping 
of  the  catalogue  cards,  or  of  titles  in  a  printed  list,  is  all 
that  he  needs.  When  he  has  selected  his  book  the  assist- 
ant finds  it  for  him  mechanically.  Even  with  closed 
shelves,  however,  classified  shelf  arrangement  is  of  great 
aid  to  the  assistant,  whom  it  enables  to  answer  questions 
regarding  the  available  resources  of  the  library  with 
speed  and  ease.  Especially  is  this  the  case  in  an  Ameri- 
can library.  Our  catalogues  inform  the  reader  what 
books  are  owned  by  the  library,  but  not  whether  a  par- 
ticular book  is  in  use  or  not.  English  libraries  have 
indicators  to  show  this,  but  we  rely  on  the  library  as- 
sistant to  give  the  information.  The  mere  statement  of 
this  difficulty  is  in  itself  sufficient  to  show  the  advan- 
tages of  free  access  to  the  shelves;  and  where  this  sys- 
tem prevails,  as  it  now  does,  wholly  or  in  part,  in  almost 
all  American  public  libraries,  a  classified  shelf  arrange- 
ment is  a  necessity.  Classification  thus  aids  the  open- 
shelf  reader  directly  and  the  closed-shelf  reader  indi- 
rectly, through  shelf  arrangement,  and  both  indirectly 
through  the  catalogue. 

The  chief  basis  of  the  classification  in  a  general  pub- 
153 


CLASSIFICATION 

lie  library  should,  of  course,  be  the  subject  of  the  book — 
the  thing  that  attracts  and  interests  most  readers.  Clas- 
sification by  authors  may  also  be  valuable;  we  occasion- 
ally hear  complaints  because  all  the  books  by  a  writer 
who  is  at  once  novelist,  poet,  and  essayist  are  not  found 
together  on  the  shelves.  This  author  grouping,  however, 
may  always  be  found  in  the  catalogue.  It  is  convenient 
in  some  classes,  as  literature,  where  form  is  important,  to 
subclassify  by  form — essays,  novels,  poetry.  Special  li- 
braries ma}^  of  course,  classify  on  bases  far  different 
from  these — the  date  of  publication,  for  instance,  as 
with  incunabula;  or  the  author's  relationships,  as  when 
a  club  groups  together  books  on  all  subjects  by  its  own 
members.  A  public  library  is  sometimes  forced  by  cir- 
cumstances beyond  its  control  to  adopt,  in  certain  spe- 
cial cases,  a  very  artificial  basis  of  grouping — size,  for 
instance,  as  when  limited  height  of  shelves  relegates 
folios  to  a  shelf  by  themselves,  regardless  of  subject  or 
author,  or  when  the  convenience  of  pocket  editions  from 
the  book  thief's  standpoint  makes  it  desirable  for  the 
library  to  group  them  together  on  closed  shelves,  or  at 
least  under  close  observation. 

In  spite  of  these  deviations,  however,  **  classifica- 
tion ' '  among  librarians  generally  means  the  grouping  of 
books  or  their  titles  by  subject,  and  involves  not  only  a 
logical  scheme  of  arrangement,  but  also  some  plan  of 
notation  by  which  a  brief  and  intelligible  mark  on  the 
book  will  indicate  its  class  and  its  proper  place  on  the 
shelves.  It  may  be  said  here,  in  passing,  that  this  nota- 
tion, whatever  it  may  be  in  theory,  is  rarely  of  direct 
practical  aid  to  users  of  the  library,  except  occasionally, 
in  enabling  them  to  replace  books  on  the  shelves  prop- 
erly in  libraries  where  the  public  is  allowed  to  do  this. 

154 


ALL    PLANS    ARTIFICIAL 

Despite  directories  and  schemes  on  the  fly  leaves  of 
printed  cataloo^ues,  it  is  probably  too  much  to  expect  the 
ordinary  user  of  a  library  to  attach  significance  to  the 
notation  of  any  system  of  classification.  For  the  public 
there  must  be  guides  and  subject  headings  in  the  cata- 
logue, section  signs  and  shelf  labels  on  the  shelves.  It 
makes  considerable  difference  to  a  rea(Jer  whether  a 
given  book  be  placed  in  one  or  another  class,  but  very 
little  whether  that  book  be  marked  with  one  or  another 
combination  of  letters  or  numerals. 

As  regards  the  scheme  of  classification,  in  the  first 
place  it  should  be  remembered  that  all  grouping  by 
classes  is  subjective  rather  than  objective.  Even  if  we 
group  the  red  books  and  the  yellow  books  together,  re- 
spectively, it  is  first  necessary  that  we  should  mentally 
abstract  the  color  of  the  book  from  its  other  qualities. 
Then,  when  we  have  before  us  an  assortment  of  graded 
orange  tints  connecting  the  two  hues  that  we  have 
chosen,  it  will  be  realized,  in  addition,  that  although  it 
is  absolutely  necessary  to  draw  a  line  somewhere  between 
two  classes,  the  location  of  that  line  must  often  be  purely 
arbitrary.  In  fact,  the  classifiers  of  natural  objects, 
who  began  their  work  before  the  classifiers  of  books, 
found  out  long  ago  the  artificial  character  of  all  such 
schemes.  They  must  take  perforce  the  attitude  of  him 
who  is  about  to  cut  up  a  beefsteak.  It  must  be  cut,  and 
the  pieces  should  be  of  convenient  and  regular  size ;  but 
the  precise  spot  at  which  the  knife  should  enter  the  meat 
is  of  secondary  consequence.  We  must  doubtless,  for 
our  own  convenience  and  in  the  interests  of  science, 
draw  a  line  between  animals  and  plants;  and  when  we 
encounter  various  types  of  inferior  organisms  seeming 
to  be  both  or  neither,  it  is  of  little  importance  where, 

155 


CLASSIFICATION 

among  these,  we  draw  the  line,  provided  only  it  is  at  an 
easily  identifiable  place  and  that  it  is  always  drawn  by 
everyone  in  the  same  place.  The  same  is  true  of  books. 
These  often  cluster  thickly  about  the  central  regions  that 
separate  class  from  class,  and  many  of  them  may  be 
placed  as  well  on  one  side  of  the  line  as  on  the  other. 
Any  two  expert  classifiers,  taken  at  random,  will  be  apt 
to  differ  regarding  the  best  location  of  such  titles  in  any 
scheme  of  classification.  Hence,  even  in  libraries  that 
have  adopted  the  same  system  and  that  are  supposed  to 
be  '^  classified  alike,"  the  class  numbers  of  the  same 
books  will  often  be  found  to  differ  widely.  There  is  as 
yet  not  only  no  standard  system,  but  no  standard  of  ap- 
plication to  the  individual  books  under  any  one  system ; 
nor  can  there  be  until  all  the  books  in  all  libraries  are 
classified  by  one  person.  If  all  the  libraries  in  the 
United  States,  for  instance,  should  agree  in  the  first 
place,  upon  some  one  plan  of  classification  and,  in  the 
second  place,  upon  acceptance  of  the  class  numbers  as- 
signed by  the  Library  of  Congress,  whatever  these  might 
be,  we  should  then  have  uniformity  of  classification,  in 
our  own  country  at  least.  Such  uniformity  has  been 
gained  in  systems  of  branch  libraries,  where  the  class 
numbers  for  all  are  assigned  at  cataloguing  headquar- 
ters. Such  systems  often  include  numerous  formerly 
independent  libraries,  with  either  schemes  of  classifica- 
tion of  their  own  or  the  same  scheme  applied  in  differ- 
ent ways.  It  has  been  necessary  in  such  cases  to  re- 
classify the  books,  involving  also  radical  alterations  in 
catalogue  and  shelf  list  and  the  remarking  of  the  books. 
There  has  never  been  any  doubt  of  the  advisability  or 
utility  of  doing  this  work,  and  it  would  be  equally  use- 
ful, if  it  could  be  done,  for  all  the  libraries  in  a  state  or 

156 


TYPES    OF    SYSTEMS 

in  the  whole  country  as  for  those  in  a  single  city. 
Nothing  is  wanting  but  authority,  and  probably  this  lack 
will  never  be  made  up.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  even  when 
reclassification  would  be  obviously  advantageous,  or  is 
imperatively  needed,  the  librarian  of  a  large  library 
shrinks  from  the  task,  involving  as  it  does  such  a  mass 
of  detail  and  so  many  months  of  work.  Many  an  inade- 
quate and  outgrown  system  is  retained  not  because  it  is 
best,  but  because  of  the  labor  involved  in  changing  it. 

When  books  in  libraries  were  first  arranged  in  classes 
no  one  scheme  was  in  general  use,  and  almost  every 
librarian  formulated  one  of  his  own.  Hence  the  older 
and  larger  American  public  libraries  generally  have 
their  own  systems  of  classification  and  notation.  Of  late 
years,  owing  to  the  publication  of  certain  systems,  with 
minute  directions  for  their  use,  one  or  another  of  these 
is  usually  adopted  in  a  new  library,  and  some  of  the 
older  and  larger  libraries  are  changing  over  to  them,  so 
that  it  has  become  possible,  by  giving  outlines  of  these 
systems,  to  give  an  idea  of  the  ways  in  which  most  of  the 
public  libraries  of  the  United  States  group  their  books. 
Prof.  Ernest  C.  Richardson,  in  his  lectures  on  "  Classi- 
fication "  (New  York,  1901),  divides  systems  of  classifi- 
cation into  five  classes:  the  philosophical,  or  scientific, 
which  deals  with  the  order  of  the  sciences  or  of  things  in 
the  abstract;  the  pedagogic,  constructed  for  educational 
purposes ;  the  encyclopedic,  similar  to  the  preceding,  but 
not  so  much  in  outline;  the  bibliographic,  suited  to  the 
arrangement  of  book  titles  in  a  bibliography;  and  the 
bibliothetic,  suited  for  the  books  on  the  shelves  of  a 
library.  The  first  three  he  calls  theoretic,  the  last  two 
practical.  Bibliographic  classification,  however,  is  more 
flexible  than  bibliothetic  in  not  having  to  take  account  of 

157 


CLASSIFICATION 

the  size,  shape,  and  material  of  actual  books,  as  the  lat- 
ter is  obliged  to  do.  It  is  evidently  only  in  bibliothetic 
classifications  that  we  are  interested  here. 

In  a  useful  scheme  of  classification  the  books  must 
be  arranged  in  classes  or  subclasses  according  to  princi- 
ples somewhat  such  as  follow:  The  arrangement  must 
be  (1)  logical — that  is,  books  about  similar  things  must 
be  grouped  together;  (2)  geographical — that  is,  books 
belonging  in  some  way  to  the  same  part  of  the  world 
should  go  together;  (3)  chronological,  both  by  subjects 
and  books — that  is,  books  on  the  same  historical  period 
and  also  books  issued  at  the  same  time  should  be 
grouped;  (4)  alphabetical — that  is,  books  whose  au- 
thors' names  begin  with  the  same  letter  go  together;  and 
(5)  linguistic — that  is,  by  languages. 

It  is  obvious  that  only  one  of  these  arrangements  can 
be  the  primary  one,  and  that  no  two  can  occupy  the 
same  order  of  importance.  For  instance,  the  primary 
division  cannot  at  the  same  time  be  logical  and  alpha- 
betical, for  the  former  would  group  all  chemistries  to- 
gether, while  the  latter  would  require  the  books  on  this 
subject  to  be  separated  and  grouped  each  with  the  books 
on  other  subjects  whose  authors'  names  begin  with  the 
same  letter.  Nor  can  it  be  at  the  same  time  logical  and 
linguistic,  for  the  former  would  put  together  histories  in 
the  English,  French,  and  German  languages,  while  the 
latter  would  segregate  all  French  books,  whether  history, 
science,  or  fiction.  We  must  then  determine  a  primary 
principle  of  classification,  then  a  secondary  one,  accord- 
ing to  which  we  may  divide  the  classes  formed  according 
to  the  primary  principle;  then  a  tertiary,  for  dividing 
the  subclasses  so  formed,  and  so  on.  The  order  of  these 
principles  is  not  the  same  in  all  systems  or  in  all  libra- 

158 


PRINCIPLES    OF    ARRANGEMENT 

ries,  and  it  may  be  necessary  to  depart  from  them  in  the 
same  arrangement.  The  logical  arrangement  is  the  most 
natural  and  common  primary  arrangement  in  a  public 
library.  In  many  libraries,  however,  the  linguistic  ar- 
rangement precedes — that  is,  the  German,  French,  Rus- 
sian, or  Roumanian  books  are  kept  by  themselves — a 
preferable  arrangement  where  these  books  are  intended 
to  satisfy  the  wants  of  native  readers  of  those  tongues. 
The  geographical  arrangement  is  important  for  some 
purposes,  but  is  never  made  the  primary  one  in  a  public 
library.  The  same  may  be  said  of  both  the  chronological 
arrangements.  The  chronological  arrangement  by  books 
is  recognized  occasionally  as  a  primary  one  by  public 
libraries  when  they  place  recent  works  on  a  separate 
shelf,  thus  practically  dividing  the  whole  collection  into 
two  classes  primarily — recent  and  nonrecent  books.  The 
alphabetic  arrangement  is,  of  course,  very  important  in 
its  place,  and  the  general  public  is  usually  pleased  by 
making  it  as  prominent  as  possible.  Some  libraries  for- 
merly recognized  it  as  primary — that  is,  arranged  all 
their  books  on  the  shelves  alphabetically  by  authors' 
names,  just  as  author  cards  are  arranged  in  a  catalogue. 
The  New  York  State  Library  was  once  so  arranged,  but 
no  good  modern  library  adopts  such  a  plan,  although  it 
might  still  be  the  best  for  a  very  small  collection,  say  of 
three  or  four  hundred  books.  The  order  in  which  the 
principles  stated  above  are  used  for  book  classification  in 
most  American  public  libraries  is,  as  given  by  Professor 
Richardson,  as  follows:  (1)  Logical,  (2)  geographical, 
(3)  chronological  by  subjects,  (4)  alphabetical,  (5)  lin- 
guistic, (6)  chronological  by  books.  This  means  the  di- 
vision of  the  books  first  into  subject  groups,  history  by 
itself,  science  by  itself,  and  so  on;  the  division  of  these 

159 


CLASSIFICATION 

groups  (where  possible  or  desirable)  by  countries  (thus, 
French  history  would  always  be  kept  together,  possibly 
also  the  geology  of  France)  ;  the  splitting  up  of  these 
subdivisions  by  the  periods  or  epochs  referred  to  (thus, 
the  books  on  the  French  Revolution  would  be  kept  apart 
from  those  on  the  Second  Empire)  ;  alphabetical  ar- 
rangement by  authors  under  these  subdivisions ;  the  seg- 
regation of  foreign  translations  from  the  original  works 
under  the  same  author;  and  finally  the  statement  of  the 
year  of  publication. 

It  must  not  be  thought  that  this  order  is  universal,  or 
that  it  is  ever  adhered  to  rigidly  throughout  any  whole 
system.  In  some  cases  one  or  more  of  the  principles  can- 
not be  applied  at  all;  for  instance,  although  we  may 
have  books  on  the  geology  of  France  or  Germany,  we 
cannot  have  them  on  the  chemistry  of  these  countries 
separately,  since  chemical  facts  and  laws  are  the  same 
everywhere;  thus  the  geographical  principle  cannot  be 
applied  uniformly  to  all  the  sciences,  unless  "  French 
chemistry  "  be  taken  to  mean  chemistry  as  taught  or 
formulated  by  French  chemists.  Again,  there  may  be  a 
difference  of  opinion  among  artists  as  to  whether  the 
geographical  or  the  chronological  principle  should  be 
allowed  to  take  precedence  in  classifying  art  books;  in 
other  words,  whether  all  books  on  French  art  should  be 
grouped  together  and  subdivided  by  periods,  or  whether 
the  art  of  the  Renaissance,  for  instance,  should  be 
grouped  together  and  then  subdivided  by  countries. 

Fortunately,  though  questions  such  as  these  cause 
sleepless  nights  and  heartburnings  among  classifiers,  they 
do  not  affect  the  general  public  greatly,  and  as  the  ob- 
ject of  all  classification  is  to  make  the  books  of  a  library 
more  usable,  we  may  say  that  they  are  not  of  primary 

160 


NOTATION 

importance.  Among  public  libraries  in  general,  uni- 
formity is  more  desirable  than  the  adoption  of  any  one 
particular  system  or  order  of  principles ;  and  among  spe- 
cial libraries  the  needs  of  each  will  naturally  dictate 
changes  in  any  standard  scheme  that  might  be  adopted. 
Every  classification,  no  matter  in  what  way  the  above- 
stated  principles  are  carried  out,  must  have,  as  already 
stated,  what  is  called  a  notation — that  is,  a  short- 
hand system  for  denoting  the  various  classes  and 
subclasses — for  use  in  marking  the  books  and  also 
their  titles  in  catalogues,  for  charging  them  on  the 
user's  card,  etc.  The  notation  on  each  book  should 
tell  one  who  is  familiar  with  it  almost  exactly  what 
the  book  is — that  is,  to  what  classes  and  subclasses 
it  belongs.  The  mnemonic  element  is  thus  of  con- 
siderable importance,  and  some  systems  have  adopted 
as  a  basis  the  initial  letters  of  the  names  of  classes.  Ob- 
viously symbols  should  be  used  that  are  connected  with 
some  recognized  notion  of  sequence,  which  means  practi- 
cally that  either  numbers  or  letters  of  the  alphabet 
should  be  employed.  Many  systems  use  both.  A  more 
complex  notation  may  be  valuable  in  a  learned  than  in 
a  popular  library.  As  has  already  been  said,  the  nota- 
tion in  a  public  free-access  library  is  for  the  use  of  the 
library  assistants  rather  than  that  of  the  public.  The 
number  of  subclasses  in  any  class  is  limited  by  the  num- 
ber of  symbols  in  the  sequence.  There  can  thus  be  no 
more  than  ten  with  a  numerical  notation,  while  there 
may  be  as  many  as  twenty-eight  in  an  alphabetic  nota- 
tion. These  numbers  might  be  increased  by  the  addition 
of  arbitrary  signs  or  combinations.  The  practical  appli- 
cation of  this  will  be  seen  a  little  farther  along  when 
we  come  to  speak  of  specific  systems. 

161 


CLASSIFICATION 

What  constitutes  a  good  arrangement  for  book  clas- 
sification ?  According  to  Professor  Richardson,  it  should 
be  (1)  natural,  (2)  minutely  detailed,  (3)  with  a  notation 
providing  for  indefinite  subdivision,  (4)  provided  with 
an  adequate  index,  and  (5)  in  general  use.  It  will  be 
noted  that  many  of  these  requisites  depend  on  the  labor 
that  has  been  expended  in  devising  and  elaborating  the 
system  and  its  notation  rather  than  on  the  inherent  mer- 
its of  the  arrangement.  The  two  systems  most  in  use  in 
this  country  are  precisely  those  that  have  been  thus  elab- 
orated at  the  expense  of  years  of  painstaking  labor  on 
the  part  of  their  inventors ;  and  the  greater  attention  to 
details  of  classification,  that  is  admittedly  a  characteris- 
tic of  American  popular  libraries,  as  compared  with 
these  in  England,  is  an  outcome  of  the  greater  amount 
of  labor  that  has  been  expended  here  on  the  details  of 
specific  systems. 

The  two  systems  of  classification  most  in  use  in  Amer- 
ican public  libraries,  especially  those  of  medium  size  and 
those  whose  collections  have  been  recently  formed,  are 
the  Decimal  of  Melvil  Dewey  and  the  Expansive  of 
Charles  A.  Cutter.  These,  in  fact,  are  the  only  existing 
systems  that  are  in  any  way  rounded  and  complete.  For 
practical  use  it  is  not  sufficient  to  indicate  the  principles 
on  which  a  system  of  classification  is  based  and  the  man- 
ner in  which  its  notation  is  formed ;  the  different  classes 
and  subclasses  must  actually  be  named,  arranged,  and 
notated,  and  this  requires  in  itself  a  bulky  volume.  In 
special  libraries,  where  the  books  are  largely  in  some  one 
class  or  subclass,  further  subdivision,  with  an  expanded 
notation,  is  often  necessary. 

It  would  be  a  difficult  and  invidious  task  to  compare 
the  two  systems  named  above.     The  Decimal  system  is 

162 


DECIMAL   SYSTEM 

still  more  complete  than  the  Expansive,  is  more  fully  in- 
dexed, and  is  in  wider  use.  The  Expansive  is  perhaps 
more  logical  at  certain  points  and,  as  it  uses  a  predomi- 
nant alphabetic  notation,  admits  of  a  much  larger  num- 
ber of  coordinate  classes  or  subclasses. 

A  decimal  classification,  as  its  name  implies,  divides 
the  whole  field  of  literature  into  ten  classes,  each  of  these 
into  ten  subclasses,  and  so  on.  Its  notation,  therefore,  is 
simply  the  ordinary  notation  of  arithmetic,  consisting  of 
whole  numbers  and  decimal  fractions.  It  may  not  at 
first  be  obvious  why  fractions  are  needed  at  all.  This  is 
because  a  figure  in  a  definite  place — the  hundreds,  for 
instance — must  always  stand  for  a  definite  class,  and  if 
we  were  to  attempt  to  denote  indefinite  subdivision  sim- 
ply by  annexing  other  figures,  the  place  of  the  primary 
class  would  be  altered  and  its  signification  changed  or 
rendered  meaningless.  The  same  object,  of  course,  could 
be  obtained,  by  using  a  higher  place  for  the  primary 
classes,  but  this  would  necessitate  the  constant  use  of  un- 
necessary zeros,  making  the  notation  very  cumbersome. 
Fractions  are  therefore  necessary.  Dewey  uses  the  hun- 
dreds place  for  his  primary  classification.  Thus,  100  is 
the  general  class  Philosophy,  160  the  subclass  Logic,  and 
so  on.  In  his  classification  for  the  Princeton  library  Dr. 
Richardson  uses  the  thousands  place  for  his  primary 
classes.  In  a  very  simple  system,  two  whole  num- 
bers, or  even  one,  might  be  amply  sufficient.  The 
Dewey  system  was  begun  in  1873,  published  in 
1876,  reached  its  fourth  edition  in  1891,  and  its 
ninth  in  1915.  In  1915  the  A.  L.  A.,  with  the 
consent  of  Dr.  Dewey,  provided  for  an  advisory 
committee  to  aid  him  in  preparing  future  edi- 
tions. Probably  it  is  used  to-day  by  several  thousand 
12  163 


CLASSIFICATION 

libraries — more  than  ever  used  a  single  system  before — 
not  only  in  this  country,  but  in  Europe,  where  its  adop- 
tion by  the  Brussels  Institute  of  Bibliography  has  aided 
much  in  giving  it  vogue.  Its  Brussels  adopters  have 
much  enlarged  its  possibilities  by  combining  the  nota- 
tions of  various  classes  to  denote  the  relationships  of  the 
title  classified.  Besides  its  consistent  use  of  the  decimal 
plan,  it  makes  also  a  peculiarly  intelligent  use  of  mne- 
monic devices,  which  aid  in  the  quick  understanding  and 
translation  into  words  of  any  particular  combination  of 
figures. 

The  use  of  letters  of  the  alphabet  for  notation, 
adopted  in  the  Expansive  System,  has  the  advantage 
that,  while  the  sequence  of  these  letters  is  (or  is  sup- 
posed to  be)  universally  known,  the  number  of  letters  in 
a  combination  and  the  place-  of  each  in  a  group  mean 
nothing.  No  use  of  zeros  or  any  similar  device  is  thus 
necessary.  Subclasses  may  be  denoted  by  affixing  other 
letters  to  any  extent  without  making  the  higher  notations 
cumbersome  or  without  any  such  device  as  the  decimal 
point.  At  the  same  time  the  possible  number  of  coordi- 
nate divisions  is  nearly  three  times  as  large  as  with  the 
use  of  the  nine  digits  and  the  zero.  The  Expansive  Clas- 
sification was  not  published  (except  in  a  preliminary 
way)  until  1891,  and  the  sixth  expansion  was  included 
in  1893.  The  seventh,  including  10,000  subdivisions,  has 
recently  been  issued.  It  is  claimed  by  admirers  of  this 
system  that  it  is  especially  logical  and  up  to  date  in  its 
nomenclature,  and  the  scholarship  displayed  in  its  con- 
struction is  of  a  high  degree.  It  is  probable  that  the 
fact  that  the  combinations  of  letters  in  its  notation  mean 
nothing  to  the  eye  (which,  as  stated  above,  is  really  one 
of  its  advantages)  has  somewhat  handicapped  it  in  the 

164 


AUTHOR  MARKS 

race  for  popularity.  A  number — 196,  for  example — in- 
dicates a  certain  place  in  a  sequence  even  to  him  who 
knows  nothing  of  the  Dewey  system,  whereas  Pxa  is 
somewhat  confusing  and  forbidding. 

The  classification  used  in  the  Library  of  Congress, 
which  is  somewhat  familiar  to  other  libraries  on  ac- 
count of  the  appearance  of  its  notation  on  the  L.  C. 
cards,  follows  Cutter  in  having  twenty-eight  primary 
classes,  denoted  by  letters  of  the  alphabet,  with  sub- 
classes denoted  by  a  second  letter.  Further  subdivision 
is  effected  by  the  use  of  numbers  in  one  series,  not  ex- 
ceeding 10,000.  Where  insertion  has  been  necessary,  a 
point  has  been  used,  followed  by  letters  and  figures. 
The  system  has  not  sought  to  follow  the  scientific  order 
of  subjects,  but  rather  to  find  convenient  sequence  of 
the  various  groups. 

Evidently  these  systems,  and  numerous  others,  pro- 
vide for  classification  as  *' close  "as  may  be  desired. 
The  closer  the  classification  the  fewer  books  in  the  fur- 
thest subclass.  Carried  to  its  extreme,  this  would  leave 
one  title  in  each  class ;  for  it  may  probably  be  asserted 
that  no  two  books  are  so  exactly  alike  that  they  would 
defy  attempts  to  place  them  in  separate  subclasses. 
This,  of  course,  is  seldom  done  practically,  and  in 
American  libraries  a  ''book  number"  usually  has  been 
added  to  the  "class  number"  to  form  the  notation  or 
"call  number"  for  the  individual  book,  thus  distin- 
guishing the  different  books  in  the  same  class*  The  Cut- 
ter "author  marks,"  devised  by  C.  A.  Cutter,  inventor 
of  the  Expansive  Classification,  are  usually  employed. 
These  are  the  initials  of  the  author's  name,  followed 
sometimes  by  other  distinguishing  letters  of  the  name 
and  qualified  by  numbers.     Thus  books  on  birds,  all 

165 


CLASSIFICATION 

having  the  Dewey  class  numbers  598.2,  may  be  discrimi- 
nated somewhat  as  follows: 

«       » 

Abbott,  C.  C,  Birdland  echoes 598.2  A 

•  Miller,  0.  T.,  Bird  ways 598.2  M 

Musgrave,  M.  G.,  Birds  and  butterflies....598.2  M19 

Scott,  W.  E.  D.,  Bird  studies 598.2  S3 

Wright,  M.  0.,  Citizen  bird 598.2  W5 

Of  late  these  author  numbers,  while  retained  for 
some  classes,  are  being  discarded  in  others,  especially  in 
individual  biography  and  fiction,  the  books  being  ar- 
ranged in  the  former  alphabetically  by  subject  and  in 
the  latter  by  authors.  An  increasing  number  of  libra- 
ries are  discarding  all  book-numbers,  shelving  each  class 
alphabetically  by  authors. 

Books  on  the  shelves  should  stand  theoretically  in  the 
exact  sequence  indicated  by  their  notation.  The  old 
''fixed  location,"  in  which  every  book  always  stood  on 
the  same  shelf  and  bore  a  "shelf  number,"  is  now  gen- 
erally abandoned.  Especially  in  a  circulating  library,  a 
large  proportion  of  the  books  are  always  in  use,  and  this 
leaves  too  many  empty  spaces,  which  waste  shelf  room. 
In  the  ''relative  location,"  now  generally  used,  the  in- 
dividual book  rarely  shifts  its  place  sufficiently  to  mis- 
lead the  user,  and  the  shelves  may  "accommodate" 
several  thousand  more  books  than  they  are  actually 
capable  of  holding.  When  the  number  varies  there  may 
be  trouble,  as  when  circulation  falls  off  in  summer. 

But  shelving  often  departs  more  or  less  from  the 
strict  sequence  indicated  by  the  notation.  In  the  first 
place,  the  classes  most  used  should  be  placed  most  con- 
veniently.  A   little-used   class,   provided   there   is   no 

166 


VARIATION    IN   LOCATION 

reason  for  pushing  or  encouraging  its  use,  may  be  in  an 
out-of-the-way  corner.  In  a  closed-shelf  library  the 
classes  most  in  demand  must  be  where  the  assistants  can 
get  at  them  readily.  The  desire  of  the  librarian  to  in- 
crease the  circulation  of  certain  classes  may  also  cause  a 
departure  from  strict  arrangement.  Thus  in  some  open- 
shelf  libraries  a  so-called  **  ribbon"  arrangement  of  fic- 
tion has  been  adopted,  in  which  the  fiction  is  placed  on 
one  shelf  around  the  room,  with  nonfiction  classes  above 
and  below  it,  the  expectation  being  that  many  users  who 
read  only  fiction  will  in  this  way  be  attracted  to  nonfic- 
tion books  and  begin  to  withdraw  and  read  them.  Many 
eccentricities  of  shelf  arrangement  are  to  be  credited  to 
such  laudable  aims  as  this.  In  some  children's  rooms  the 
stories  have  been  classified  and  shelved  with  the  nonfic- 
tion ;  thus  a  historical  tale  of  the  French  Revolution 
would  be  found  with  histories  of  that  period.  The  sub- 
classification  of  adult  fiction  and  its  arrangement  in  cor- 
responding fashion  on  the  shelves  has  been  strongly  ad- 
vocated by  some  librarians.  In  at  least  one  library, 
books  in  the  children's  room  are  arranged  by  accession 
number,  without  classified  order,  so  that  the  users  will  be 
more  likely  to  select  nonfiction. 

It  may  be  postulated,  however,  that  departure  from 
classified  order  should  be  made  on  the  shelves  only  from 
some  compelling  reason.  Library  users  may  surely  be 
made  to  read  good  books  in  some  other  way  than  that  by 
which  rats  are  induced  to  take  poison,  namely,  by  mix- 
ing it  with  their  daily  food.  Classification  of  fiction  is 
an  excellent  thing,  but  it  should  be  a  bibliographical 
enterprise  and  should  not  affect  shelf  arrangement. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

CATALOGUING 

It  may  be  said  of  catalogues,  as  it  was  said  of  classi- 
fication in  the  last  chapter,  that  they  are  solely  for  the 
aid  of  the  public,  either  directly  or  through  the  assist- 
ance that  they  give  to  the  librarian  in  his  work.  All 
catalogues  are  lists  of  books,  each  of  whose  items  de- 
scribes a  book  more  or  less  fully.  The  item  may  contain 
just  enough  to  identify  the  book,  or  it  may  include  elab- 
orate descriptive  matter,  accompanied  by  critical  annota- 
tions. The  principle  on  which  the  items  are  arranged, 
and,  in  a  lesser  degree  the  fullness  and  style  of  the 
items,  determines  the  kind  of  catalogue.  At  present 
three  general  types  are  used  for  different  purposes  in 
most  American  libraries — the  accession  catalogue,  in 
which  the  books  are  entered  chronologically  in  the  or- 
der of  their  addition  to  the  library;  the  shelf  list,  in 
which  the  order  is  that  in  which  the  books  stand  on  the 
shelves;  and  the  catalogue  proper,  in  which  the  entries 
are,  in  general,  alphabetical.  Of  these,  the  first  two  are 
solely  for  the  use  of  the  library  assistants.  The  third  is 
used  equally  by  librarians  and  the  public,  and  in  large 
libraries  there  are  copies  or  sets  for  both  purposes. 

The  accession  catalogue  corresponds  to  the  day  book 
of  financial  accounts.  In  it  are  written,  with  a  more  or 
less  detailed  description,  for  identification,  the  author 
and  title  of  each  book  as  acquired,  each  being  assigned  a 

168 


ACCESSION    RECORD 

serial  number,  known  as  an  accession  number.  This 
number  is  inseparable  from  the  book  while  it  lives,  and 
dies  with  it.  It  represents  the  actual,  material  book,  not 
the  title;  every  separate  volume  of  a  series  and  every 
identical  duplicate  copy  of  a  work  has  its  own  number, 
which  is  never  changed  and  never  given  to  any  other 
book.  Blank  accession  books,  to  be  filled  by  entries  of 
this  sort,  are  sold  in  several  forms,  but  in  all  only  one 
line  is  allowed  for  each  entry.  The  particulars  generally 
given,  besides  serial  number,  author,  and  title,  are  pub- 
lisher's name,  source,  date,  size,  and  edition  w-ith  addi- 
tional space  for  remarks.  These  are  not  alw^ays  filled 
out,  especially  in  small  libraries. 

The  accession  record  is  the  original  record  of  the 
books,  and  should  be  authoritative.  It  is  used  to  ascer- 
tain certain  facts  about  any  particular  book,  such  as  the 
date  on  which  it  was  added,  its  source,  and  its  cost.  In 
case  of  a  loss,  it  tells  what  sum  the  loser  must  be  charged ; 
in  case  of  a  fire,  the  insurance  adjustment  is  made  by  its 
records.  It  is,  to  quote  Dr.  W.  F.  Poole  (L.  J.,  3,  p.  324), 
''  a  transcript  (put  into  bibliographical  form)  of  all 
the  bills  and  invoices  of  books  purchased;  ...  a 
chronological  record  of  the  growth  of  the  library ;  .  .  . 
a  record  of  donations  and  donors;  .  .  .  and  a  rec- 
ord of  the  history  of  every  book. ' '  For  quickness  of  ref- 
erence, the  accession  number  must  be  entered  in  the  book 
itself  in  some  uniform  place  (as  the  page  following  the 
title),  and  also  on  the  shelf  list. 

There  has  been  of  late  a  rather  widespread  movement 
against  the  use  of  the  accession  catalogue,  at  any  rate  in 
the  form  in  which  it  is  commonly  found,  and  an  effort 
to  do  away  with  it,  either  by  substituting  something  else 
for  it  or  by  combining  it  with  some  other  form  of  record. 

169 


CATALOGUING 

Thus  we  find  some  libraries  using  their  original  bills  as 
an  accession  record  and  others  experimenting  more  or 
less  successfully  with  combined  accession  and  order  lists 
cr  accession  and  general  catalogues. 

As  early  as  1878  Justin  Winsor  objected  to  the  ac- 
cession catalogue  as  useless,  and  endeavored  to  substitute 
the  shelf  list  for  it — an  unsatisfactory  change,  as  pointed 
out  by  Dr.  Poole,  since  the  shelf  list  is  constantly  chang- 
ing. Filed  order  cards  have  been  used  as  the  accession 
record  in  the  Library  of  Congress  and  bills,  or  invoices, 
in  the  Boston  Public  Library,  the  Springfield  City  Li- 
brary, and  others.  A  plan  for  using  a  system  of  "  tally 
cards  ' '  in  the  shelf  list  instead  of  the  accession  book  has 
been  proposed  by  Mr.  H.  E.  Bliss  (L.  J.,  28,  p.  711),  and 
Mr.  Drew  B.  Hall  (L.  J.,  28,  p.  830)  has  devised  what  he 
calls  a  "  classified  and  condensed  accession  record  "  as 
an  improvement  over  the  usual  plan. 

The  feature  to  which  objection  is  chiefly  made  is  the 
necessity  of  a  separate  and  more  or  less  elaborate  entry 
for  each  separate  book.  Thus  in  some  libraries  we  find 
the  custom  of  accessioning  collections  of  pamphlets,  or 
even  series  of  books,  in  one  entry.  This  saves  space,  pro- 
vided the  collection  is  already  accompanied  by  its  sepa- 
rate list  of  contents ;  if  not,  as  such  a  list  must  evidently 
be  made  and  retained,  it  may  as  well  be  entered  in  the 
accession  book  as  anywhere  else.  Other  libraries  that 
use  many  duplicates  and  purchase  large  numbers  of 
these  at  once  lament  the  waste  of  space  involved  in  fill- 
ing page  after  page  with  ditto  marks.  Some  of  these 
objectors  have  adopted  the  practice  of  giving  to  a  re- 
placement the  same  number  as  the  volume  that  it  re- 
places and  letting  the  original  accession  entry  stand. 
This  fulfills  some  of  the  requirements  of  an  accession 

170 


SHELF   LIST 

entry,  but  not  others,  and  is  on  the  whole  objectionable. 
For  instance,  if  the  new  volume  is  precisely  the  same  in 
all  particulars  as  the  discarded  one  (and  it  is  only  in 
such  case  that  anyone  advocates  the  plan  here  noted), 
the  entry  is  correct  so  far  as  the  author,  title,  and  de- 
scription of  the  book  are  concerned.  The  date  of  acces- 
sion, however,  is  wrong,  and  this  is  important  in  compil- 
ing statistics  of  wear,  etc.  Again,  the  accession  record 
should  indicate  the  discarding  of  a  volume  and  its  re- 
placement with  a  new  one;  the  record  should  show,  at 
the  end  of  the  year,  the  total  number  discarded  and  the 
total  of  additions,  and  this  is  not  done  by  the  record 
alone  unless  every  volume  added,  whether  a  new  title,  a 
duplicate,  or  a  replacement,  has  a  separate  entry  with 
its  new  accession  number  in  serial  order. 

The  shelf  list,  as  has  been  said,  is  a  list  of  books  in 
the  order  in  which  they  are  shelved.  If  all  the  books  in 
the  library  are  shelved  by  classes,  it  is  also  a  class  list; 
otherwise  not.  For  instance,  if  adult  books  for  circula- 
tion, children's  books,  and  reference  books  are  shelved 
separately,  the  shelf  list  will  not  be  a  class  list,  since  the 
entries  on  history,  for  instance,  will  be  found  in  three 
different  places.  The  name  ''  shelf  list  "  is  sometimes 
improperly  given  to  a  class  list;  for  instance,  the 
"  union  shelf  list  "  often  kept  in  systems  of  branch 
libraries  is  really  a  union  class  list.  The  order  in  which 
entries  appear  in  it  does  not  correspond  with  the  order 
of  books  on  any  one  set  of  shelves.  The  entries  in  a 
shelf  list  are  brief — merely  sufficient  to  identify  the 
brok,  unless  other  features  are  incorporated  with  it;  as, 
for  instance,  when  it  is  used  as  a  classed  catalogue.  The 
list  is  used,  in  its  capacity  as  a  shelf  list,  chiefly  for 
comparison  with  the  books  on  the  shelves,  in  taking  in- 

171 


CATALOGUING 

ventory.     As  a  class  list,  if  it  be  such,  it  is  useful  in 
many  other  ways,  which  are  sufficiently  obvious. 

The  inventory  of  books  in  a  library  is  like  the  inven- 
tory of  goods  in  any  establishment  or  of  articles  in  a 
man 's  own  house — sjmply  a  comparison  of  the  actual  ob- 


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CUn 


Shelf  Card  and  Shelf-List  Sheets. 

jects— in  this  case,  books— with  a  list,  to  see  whether  there 
is  agreement.  In  the  case  of  goods,  however,- the  inventory 
is  simplified  by  the  owner's  ability  to  take  much  of  it  in 
gross;  his  list  says  ''  100  boxes  of  Blank's  soap,"  and  he 
has  merely  to  count  them  to  perform  his  verification. 
Library  lists  do  not  say  ''  500  volumes  of  history."   This 

172 


TAKING    OP    INVENTORY 

would  not  do,  because  all  the  books  of  history  are  not 
alike,  as  the  boxes  of  soap  are.  The  list  used  is  the  shelf 
list,  just  described,  which  is  primarily  made  for  this  very 
purpose.  If  all  the  volumes  were  on  the  shelves,  com- 
parison would  be  very  simple ;  but  in  an  ordinary  public 
library  some  are  in  the  hands  of  readers  at  home,  some 
are  at  the  bindery  or  in  process  of  mending,  and  so  on. 
It  is  necessary,  therefore,  after  ' '  reading  the  shelves, ' '  to 
search  every  place  or  record  where  trace  maj^  be  found  of 
books  not  on  the  shelves.  If  the  shelf  list  is  correct,  the 
titles  not  found  are  those  of  books  missing. 

A  '*  missing  "  book  may  have  been  stolen  from  the 
shelves,  or  a  reader  may  have  taken  it  home  without  hav- 
ing it  charged,  either  purposely  or  through  negligence, 
or  it  may  have  been  overlooked  'in  one  of  the  compari- 
sons referred  to  above,  or  it  may  have  been  misplaced  or 
mislaid.  Unless  stolen  or  irrecoverably  lost,  it  will  turn 
up  at  some  future  time.  Books  found  missing  at  inven- 
tory are  listed  in  a  book  provided  for  the  purpose,  but 
are  not  usually  reported  missing  until  search  has  been 
made  for  them  systematically  during  a  specified  num- 
ber of  months.  A  majority  of  those  missing  at  first  will 
usually  be  found  shortly ;  and  even  after  the  report  has 
been  made — sometimes  for  several  years  afterwards — 
missing  books  will  turn  up  more  or  less  mysteriously. 
Every  librarian  has  his  own  formula  for  taking  inven- 
tory, but  the  object  in  each  case  is  the  same — to  prevent 
omission  of  any  precaution  to  detect  the  loss  of  books. 
In  checking,  some  librarians  use  the  shelf  list  itself,  eras- 
ing check  marks  afterwards,  but  a  better  way  is  to  do 
the  actual  work  with  a  rough  copy  on  sheets,  the  shelf 
list  itself  being  kept  as  a  standard.  The  order  of  proce- 
dure may  be  somewhat  as  follows; 

173 


CATALOGUING 

The  shelves  and  shelf  list  are  first  examined  to 
make  sure  that  both  are  in  proper  order.  The  book  num- 
ber is  then  read  from  the  latter  by  one  assistant  while 
another  looks  for  the  book  on  the  shelves.  The  book 
number,  accession  number,  and  copy  number  on  the  shelf 
list  are  compared  with  the  record  of  them  entered  in  the 
book,  and  if  these  do  not  correspond  the  book  is  removed 
for  subsequent  correction.  When  a  book  is  missing,  class 
number,  book  number,  and  copy  number  are  entered  on 
the  inventory  list.  Besides  the  shelves,  search  is  made 
in  the  circulation  tray,  among  reserved  bool^,  on  the 
mending  shelves,  among  books  to  be  discarded  or  ready 
for  the  binder,  among  cards  for  books  in  the  bindery, 
and  finally  in  shelves  and  cupboards  in  all  parts  of  the 
library.  Books  still  missing  after  such  search  should 
have  their  authors'  titles  and  accession  numbers  as  given 
en  the  shelf  list  compared  with  accession  book  and  cata- 
logue for  possible  error. 

Inventory  is  taken  usually  once  a  year,  and  most  li- 
brarians look  forward  to  it  much  as  the  old-fashioned 
housekeeper  looked  forward  to  her  annual  '*  spring 
houseeleaning.'*  It  is  possible  to  spread  the  inventory, 
like  the  cleaning,  over  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  thus 
mitigating  its  terrors  and  making  it  part  of  the  regular 
routine  work.  This  method  involves  the  taking  of  an 
inventory  of  a  certain  class  or  classes  every  month.  As 
the  same  class  is  always  taken  in  the  same  month,  pre- 
cisely one  year  elapses  between  inventories  in  each  class. 
The  disadvantage,  of  course,  is  that  the  results  reported 
at  the  end  of  the  year  are  not  quite  uniform ;  thus,  if  the 
library  year  ends  on  December  31st,  the  class  invento- 
ried in  November  will  show  more  missing  books  than 
that  in  the  previous  February,  owing  to  the  shorter 

174 


GENERAL  CATALOGUES 

elapsed  period.  The  plan,  however,  has  worked  well  in 
some  large  libraries. 

The  general  catalogue  may  be  arranged  in  any  one 
of  various  ways.  If  there  is  a  single  entry  for  each 
book,  and  these  are  arranged  alphabetically  by  authors' 
names,  it  is  an  author  catalogue.  If  they  are  arranged 
alphabetically  by  the  chief  word  in  the  title,  it  is  a  title 
catalogue.  If  they  are  arranged  in  the  order  of  classifi- 
cation, it  is  a  classed  catalogue,  and  differs  from  a  class 
list  only  in  the  greater  fullness  of  the  entries.  Classed 
catalogues,  however,  do  not  usually  adhere  to  the  strict 
order  of  a  class  list,  the  entries  being  often  arranged  in 
the  alphabetical  order  of  the  authors'  names  within  the 
most  important  classes.  When  so  arranged,  if  the  groups 
themselves  are  arranged  in  the  alphabetical  instead  of 
the  class  order  of  their  subject  headings,  we  have  a  sub- 
ject catalogue.  A  classed  catalogue  with  subject  and 
author  indexes  is  a  useful  form. 

Libraries  formerly,  and  still  to  some  extent,  offered 
their  users  more  than  one  of  these  forms  of  catalogue; 
for  instance,  separately  arranged  author, 'title,  and  sub- 
ject lists ;  but  the  common  practice  now  is  to  throw  these 
together  in  one  alphabetical  order,  forming  a  so-called 
dictionary  catalogue.  In  such  a  catalogue,  then,  each 
book  will  be  represented  generally  by  not  less  than  three 
entries — namely,  an  author  entry,  a  title  entry,  and  one 
or  more  subject  entries.  The  first  two  are  arranged  in 
regular  alphabetical  order  and  the  subject  entries  are  ar- 
ranged each  under  its  appropriate  subject  in  the  alpha- 
betical order  of  the  author's  name,  the  subject  groups, 
each  preceded  by  its  separate  subject  heading,  being  ar- 
ranged in  the  alphabetical  place  of  that  heading  among 
the  author  and  title  entries.    This  arrangement,  though 

175 


CATALOGUING 

complex  at  first  sight,  has  all  the  advantages  of  separate 
author,  title,  and  subject  lists,  and  is  more  easily  con- 
sulted, since  there  is  but  one  alphabet. 

It  has  taken  many  years'  experience  to  show  ex- 
perts that  all  sorts  of  entries  may  be  thrown  into  one 
alphabetical  order  without  sacrificing  the  independence 
of  the  separate  collections.  Thousands  of  persons  have 
not  yet  grasped  this  simple  truth  and  among  them  are 
our  dictionary-makers,  with  their  separate  alphabets 
for  ordinary  words,  proper  names,  familiar  foreign 
words,  and  so  on.  The  Standard  Dictionary  in  its  last 
edition,  has  thrown  most  of  these  words  into  one  alpha- 
bet, whereas  the  International  has  adopted  an  arrange- 
ment with  two  alphabets  on  each  page. 

In  a  dictionary  catalogue  much  depends  on  the 
proper  selection  of  subject  headings.  The  author  entries 
enable  the  consulter  to  ascertain  whether  the  library  con- 
tains a  given  book  whose  author  he  knows,  and  what 
other  books  by  the  same  author  are  therein  available. 
The  title  entries  enable  him  to  find  whether  the  library 
contains  a  book  whose  author  he  has  forgotten,  but  whose 
title  he  remembers.  The  subject  entries  often  enable 
him  to  find  a  book  whose  author  and  title  are  both  for- 
gotten, and  also  to  ascertain  what  kind  of  a  collection 
and  how  large  the  library  contains  on  a  given  subject. 
Subject  headings  should  therefore  be  such  as  the  con- 
sulter would  be  apt  to  look  for,  and  the  more  there  are 
the  easier  the  catalogue  is  to  use.  To  duplicate  cards 
under  more  than  two  or  three  headings,  however,  in- 
volves too  much  labor  and  swells  the  catalogue  to  too 
great  proportions.  Instead  of  duplicating,  it  is  often 
sufficient  to  make  cross  entries.  The  form  of  the  head- 
ings will  depend  largely  on  the  knowledge  possessed  by 

176 


ANALYTICALS 

the  class  of  persons  who  are  to  use  the  catalogue;  thus, 
in  a  catalogue  for  children,  technical  terms  are  best 
avoided.  Instead  of  "  Botany  "  and  '*  Zoology,"  for  in- 
stance, the  more  familiar  words  ''  Plants  "  and  "  Ani- 
mals "  may  be  used.  In  a  catalogue  to  be  used  largely 
by  persons  who  are  looking  for  works  on  industrial  sub- 
jects a  much  larger  number  of  subject  headings  on  this 
line  would  be  used,  and  they  would  be  more  closely  sub- 
divided than  in  an  ordinary  catalogue. 

In  addition  to  these  entries,  so-called  '*  analytical  " 
may  be  inserted  ad  libitum.  These  add  to  the  catalogue 
an  indexing  feature,  as  they  represent  not  books,  but 
parts  of  books.  Such  entries  are  absolutely  necessary  to 
complete  the  catalogue  and  make  it  usable,  in  cases  where 
important  information  on  a  subject  is  to  be  found  in  a 
book  on  another  subject,  or  where  several  treatises  are 
grouped  together  in  one  volume.  They  may  be  multi- 
plied so  far  that  the  catalogue  practically  includes  an 
analytical  index  to  every  important  work  in  the  library ; 
their  value  is  undoubted,  and  the  only  limitations  are 
those  of  space  and  expense. 

In  making  a  catalogue  for  the  use  of  the  public,  the 
cataloguer  should  bear  in  mind  that  the  object  of  the 
catalogue  is  to  save  the  user  time  and  trouble ;  and  every- 
thing should  be  directed  to  this  end.  For  uniformity's 
sake,  and  to  avoid  confusion,  cataloguers  have  adopted 
long  and  minute  rules  governing  the  form  and  style  of 
entries  in  thousands  of  different  cases.  These  rules  tend 
to  simplify  the  catalogue  and  make  it  easier  to  consult; 
but  whenever  the  cataloguer  finds  that  any  rule  is  aeting 
to  confuse  rather  than  to  aid  the  consulter,  it  should  be 
broken  without  hesitation.  A  catalogue  that  is  hard  to 
use  is  ipso  facto  a  bad  catalogue,  no  matter  how  closely 

177 


■ 


CATALOGUING 

it  adheres  to  rules.  In  order  to  consult  a  catalogue  in- 
telligently, the  user  must  have  some  idea  of  the  princi- 
ples on  which  the  catalogue  is  made,  or  at  least  he  must 
understand  the  principal  variations  in  the  construction 
of  catalogues,  so  that  if  he  does  not  find  what  he  wants 
in  one  place,  he  may  seek  it  in  another.  It  is  true  that 
the  catalogue  should  be  made  on  the  simplest  lines,  and 
so  that  an  uninstrueted  person  may  understand  it;  but 
no  matter  how  simple  it  may  be,  some  little  knowledge 
will  be  necessary. 

In  the  first  place,  the  user  must  understand  the  prin- 
ciples of  alphabetic  arrangement,  or  at  least  must  know 
that  more  than  one  logical  alphabetic  order  may  be  pos- 
sible in  certain  cases.  Even  the  serial  order  of  the  let- 
ters of  the  alphabet  is  not  known  to  everyone  nowadays, 
since  the  word  method  of  teaching  reading  has  come  into 
vogue.  All  children  should  learn  the  letters  in  the  tra- 
ditional order,  just  as  they  learn  to  count,  in  order  that 
they  may  be  able  to  use  dictionaries,  catalogues,  indexes, 
and  directories  with  speed  and  certainty.  Even  those 
who  have  this  order  clearly  in  their  memories  do  not  al- 
ways understand  what  is  meant  by  the  alphabetic  order 
of  words,  beyond  arrangement  by  initial  letters,  and  such 
persons  are  quite  at  sea  in  the  presence  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  alphabetic  items.  Beyond  this  there  are  certain 
special  questions  of  arrangement  whose  solution  must  be 
more  or  less  arbitrary.  It  is  now  customary,  for  in- 
stance, to  alphabetize  abbreviations  as  if  they  were 
spelled  out.  For  instance,  St.  John  (as  a  surname)  goes 
with  the  Sa's  instead  of  with  the  St's.  The  obvious  and 
sensible  reason  is  that  otherwise,  if  the  first  word  were 
occasionally  spelled  out,  the  name  would  appear  in  two 
widely  separated  parts  of  the  catalogue.     So,  too,  Mac- 

178 


ALPHABETIZATION 

Pherson,  McPherson,  and  M'Pherson  are  all  the  same 
name,  and  should  appear  together.  Suppose,  again,  that 
we  have  combinations  of  letters  forming,  in  some  cases, 
a  single  long  word  and  in  others  two  or  more  short  ones. 
The  general  usage  is  now  to  group  together  all  the 
phrases  that  begin  with  the  same  word,  even  where  oth- 
ers would  properly  intervene.  Thus  we  should  have  the 
order 

Rat-catcher    ]  (  Rat-catcher 

Rat-skins         >•        instead  of        J  Rate-payer 
Rate-payer     J  [  Rat-skins 

although  the  latter  would  be  more  strictly  alphabetical. 

It  is  impossible  to  tell,  of  course,  when  one  consults  a 
strange  catalogue,  dictionary,  or  index,  what  method  of 
arrangement  has  been  followed  in  such  case.  Simply  to 
know  the  rule  as  laid  down  in  some  code  or  text-book  is 
not  sufficient.  One  should  understand  the  different  pos- 
sible orders  and  test  the  catalogue  to  see  which  has  been 
followed. 

The  object  of  the  cataloguer  in  every  case,  of  course, 
has  been  to  make  his  list  easy  to  consult,  and  the  varia- 
tions are  due  to  differences  of  opinion  with  regard  to  the 
easiest  and  simplest  arrangement.  The  same  may  be 
said  with  regard  to  other  rules  of  arrangement  and  style 
as  laid  down  in  codes  of  cataloguing — variations  are  due 
to  genuine  difference  of  opinion  about  what  will  make 
the  use  of  the  catalogue  easy  for  the  consulter ;  although 
sometimes  it  seems  as  if  the  opinion  of  the  expert  had 
been  biased  by  desire  for  technical  uniformity  in  his 
system. 

There  is  no  space  here  to  do  more  than  indicate  a  few 
of  the  most  important  items  regarding  which  cataloguers 
18  179 


k 


CATALOGUING 

have  made  rules  and  some  of  the  chief  variations  be- 
tween different  systems  of  rules.  A  surprisingly  large 
number  of  these  deal  with  the  form  in  which  an  author 's 
name  is  to  be  entered.  Authors  frequently  change  their 
names— women  by  marriage,  foreigners  by  assuming  a 
title,  anyone  by  dropping  forenames  or  hyphenating 
two  elements  of  the  name.  It  matters  little  which  name 
shall  be  used,  but  it  does  matter  vitally  that  some  one 
form  shall  be  selected  for  use  and  adhered  to ;  otherwise 
an  author's  worl^:s  will  be  entered  in  different  parts  of 
the  same  list.  Of  course,  there  will  be  cross  references 
to  the  form  adopted  from  all  other  forms,  and  therefore 
to  save  the  trouble  of  turning  pages  uselessly  the  form 
adopted  should  be  the  one  most  familiar  to  users  of  the 
catalogue. 

Names  beginning  with  a  prefix  cause  much  trouble, 
and  rules  for  entering  them  are  various.  Where  the 
name  is  foreign,  the  foreign  usage  is  generally  followed. 
In  French  the  definite  article  is  the  only  prefix  regarded 
as  part  of  the  name;  La  Fontaine  is  so  entered  (under 
L),  but  de  Lafayette  does  not  go  under  D.  When  such 
names  are  Anglicized,  however,  the  prefix  is  always  re- 
garded as  part  of  the  name;  thus  De  Forest  is  entered 
under  D.  Many  bearers  of  such*  English  names,  however, 
insist  on  the  observance  of  the  foreign  rule,  and  confu- 
sion results. 

Professional  titles  are  generally  added  only  when 
distinctive;  ''  Dr.,"  ''  Rev.,"  ''  Prof.,"  and  the  like  are 
ignored.  Sometimes  this  results  in  lack  of  clearness ;  the 
titles  that  are  dropped  for  uniformity's  sake  may  in  cer- 
tain cases  be  as  distinctive  as  the  others. 

In  case  of  authors  bearing  titles  of  nobility,  some  cat- 
aloguers enter  always  under  the  family  name,  referring 

180 


AUTHORS'    NAMES 

from  the  title.  This  is  the  English  rule.  As  the  title  is 
often  very  familiar,  while  the  family  name  is  almost  un- 
known, this  is  often  awkward,  and  the  American  rule 
allows  entry  under  the  title  in  such  cases.  Equally  awk- 
ward is  the  inflexible  English  rule  that  princes  of  royal 
blood  are  to  be  entered  under  their  forenames.  The  Duke 
of  the  Abruzzi  is  thus  simply  "  Luigi  "  in  a  catalogue, 
and  becomes  unidentifiable.  Married  women  are  entered 
sometimes  under  their  married  names  and  sometimes  un- 
der their  maiden  names.  Hyphenated  names  may  be 
given  under  either  element.  Pseudonyms  or  real  names 
may  be  used.  Many  cataloguers  have  insisted  on  the  in- 
sertion of  full  names,  no  matter  how  long  disused.  They 
have  discovered,  for  instance,  that  Dickens's  name  was 
"  Charles  John  Huff  am  Dickens,*'  and  he  is  paraded  in 
many  a  catalogue  under  this  style.  The  use  of  such  a 
proceeding  as  this  would  seem  absolutely  undiscoverable. 
There  is  now  a  tendency  toward  common  sense  and  the 
relaxation  of  rules  for  rules'  sake.  In  the  latest 
compilation  of  cataloguing  rules,  agreed  upon  jointly 
by  committees  of  the  American  Library  Association 
and  the  Library  Association  of  the  United  King- 
dom, and  known  as  the  **  Anglo-American  rules,'* 
many  changes  in  this  direction  may  be  observed.  But 
usage  differs  in  different  countries;  the  most  famil- 
iar form  in  one  is  relatively  unfamiliar  in  another,  and 
much  fault  is  found  even  with  this  latest  mentor,  espe- 
cially by  British  librarians.  If  there  were  a  library  czar 
to  prescribe  uniform  cataloguing  rules  for  the  world's 
libraries  and  to  enforce  them  strictly,  nothing  but  good 
would  result,  no  matter  how  objectionable  the  rules 
might  be  in  themselves. 

Other  points  on  which  rules  are  laid  down,  and  re- 
181 


CATALOGUING 

garding  which  usage  differs,  are  the  entry  of  govern- 
ment or  institutional  publications,  form  of  the  place  of 
publication  (vernacular  or  English),  the  order  of  en- 
tries, etc.  The  items  that  may  be  included  in  a  single 
entry  of  a  catalogue  may  be  seen  from  the  following  list 
given  by  James  Duff  Brown  in  the  order  that  he  favors : 

Author 

Title 

Edition 

Place  of  publication 

Date  of  publication 

Imprint  particulars  (for  old  and  rare  books  only) 

Number  of  volumes  {v.) 

Size 

Series 

Illustrations  (i.,  ill.) 

Portraits  (ports.) 

Maps  (ma.) 

Plans  (pi.) 

Facsimiles  (fac.)     . 

Diagrams  (dia.) 

Tables  {tah.) 

Genealogical  charts  (gen.) 

Music  (mus.) 

Memoir  (mem.) 

Glossary  (glo.) 

Bibliography  (hih.) 

For  special  books,  there  may  also  be  noted  bindings, 
superlibros,  autographs  of  eminent  owners,  book  plates, 
and  the  existence  of  printed  bibliographical  descriptions 
in  other  works. 

The  abbreviations,  in  italics,  used  in  making  these 
182 


i 


CARD  CATALOGUES 

entries  are  annexed  in  parentheses.     These  vary  consid- 
erably in  different  catalogues. 

The  catalogue  may  also  be  indefinitely  lengthened  by 
the  insertion  of  descriptive  or  critical  annotations.  The 
former,  in  general,  are  required  in  all  entries  that  are 
not  self-explanatory.  To  the  author  entry  the  dates  of 
the  author's  birth  and  death  are  often  systematically 
added.  The  value  of  critical  annotations  in  an  ordinary 
catalogue  is  in  dispute.  It  has  been  pointed  out  that 
such  catalogues  now  usually  contain  no  guide  to  the 
reader  to  point  out  which  books  in  the  collection,  on  a 
given  subject,  are  authoritative  and  which  are  discred- 
ited. In  spite  of  this,  however,  it  may  be  best  to' omit 
such  information  from  the  catalogue  of  a  general  public 
library.  Authorities  are  seldom  agreed  on  such  matters, 
and  it  is  not  right  that  the  cataloguer  should  set  himself 
up  as  an  expert  on  all  the  arts  and  sciences  together. 
Even  a  credited  quotation  from  an  authority  is  ex  parte. 

So  far,  nothing  has  been  said  regarding  the  mechan- 
ical construction  of  the  catalogue.  In  modern  catalogues 
ease  of  consultation,  especially  by  several  persons  at  a 
time,  and  the  possibility  of  inserting  new  entries  in  their 
proper  order  at  any  time  without  interfering  with  the 
others,  have  been  regarded  as  more  important  than  the 
large  duplication  of  copies,  except  in  special  instances. 

The  general  catalogue,  therefore,  is  now  almost  uni- 
versally made  on  cards,  with  one  or  more  cards  to  an 
entry  and  never  more  than  one  entry  on  a  single  card. 
These  are  filed  in  light  trays  arranged  as  drawers  in  a 
cabinet,  and  are  kept  in  place  by  a  rod  running  through 
holes  in  the  lower  edge  of  each  card,  and  fastened  or. 
locked  to  the  tray  by  one  end.  When  a  new  entry  is  to 
be  inserted,  the  rod  is  withdrawn  and  the  new  card  sim- 

183 


CATALOGUING 

ply  placed  in  its  proper  order.  By  making  the  trays 
small  and  light,  as  is  now  the  custom,  they  may  be  re- 
moved for  consultation,  and  any  number  of  persons  may 
use  the  catalogue  at  once,  provided  two  do  not  desire  to 
look  at  the  same  trayful  of  cards. 

Cards  may  be  arranged  otherwise  than  in  trays.  For 
instance,  they  may  be  lightly  gummed  to  the  leaves  of 
one  or  more  scrapbooks,  so  that  their  location  may 
quickly  be  changed  when  a  new  card  is  to  be  inserted. 
This  method  is  practically  that  still  employed  in  the 
British  Museum.  The  book  may  consist  of  loose  leaves 
in  a  binder,  as  in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  in  Paris. 

Cards  filed  in  a  tray,  or  even  in  a  scrapbook,  quickly 
soil  with  handling.  In  the  Rudolph  indexer,  formerly 
used  in  the  Newberry  Library  at  Chicago,  there  was  no 
handling;  the  cards  are  mounted  on  a  device  that  is 
turned  mechanically  under  glass.  Various  forms  of 
"visible  index,"  used  chiefly  in  business,  but  capable 
of  adoption  to  advantage  by  libraries  for  short  cata- 
logues or  lists,  display  large  numbers  of  cards  or  slips 
on  a  single  surface,  facilitating  rapid  consultation. 

But  despite  the  advantages  of  other  methods  of  ar- 
rangement, cards  filed  in  a  tray  are  now  used  almost  ex- 
clusively, and  are  on  the  whole  most  satisfactory. 

If  cards  are  not  used  at  all,  two  other  arrangements 
offer  themselves.  Either  the  entries  are  written,  type- 
written, or  printed  in  an  ordinary  book,  in  which  case 
new  entries  cannot  be  inserted  at  all ;  or  they  are  written 
on  loose  leaves,  with  spaces  between,  so  that  new  entries 
may  be  interlined,  a  leaf  being  entirely  rewritten  and 
replaced  when  necessary.  The  large  printed  catalogue 
in  many  volumes  is  a  monumental  enterprise,  and 
quickly  goes  out  of  date.     Usually  the  earlier  volumes 

184 


BOOK  CATALOGUES 

are  far  behind  the  times  before  the  later  ones  are  issued. 
Still,  such  catalogues  are  of  undoubted  use,  especially 
for  a  standard  collection  not  subject  to  great  change, 
and  large  libraries  still  occasionally  undertake  them. 
Since  the  invention  of  the  linotype  machine  it  is  possible 
for  a  library  that  issues  a  monthly  list  of  additions  to 
save  the  slugs  and  combine  them  later  in  a  more  com- 
prehensive list,  or  even  in  a  general  catalogue.  This 
is  done  by  the  Boston  Public  Library  in  issuing  its  an- 
nual lists. 

The  method  of  writing  on  loose  leaves  has  found 
some  favor,  especially  of  recent  years,  in  Europe,  where 
a  modification  of  it  has  been  named  the  *'  sheaf  cata- 
logue. ' '  In  certain  cases,  where  the  eye  must  take  in  a 
large  number  of  entries  at  once,  as  in  examining  the 
resources  of  a  library  under  a  single  subject  heading  or 
under  an  author's  name,  an  arrangement  on  a  broad 
sheet,  of  course,  makes  the  task  easier.  Such  an  arrange- 
ment is  also  more  in  accord  with  our  acquired  habit  of 
reading  from  a  large  page  rather  than  from  many  small 
ones.  The  advantages  of  card  arrangement,  however, 
are  so  great  that  American  public  libraries  rarely  use 
other  devices,  except  occasionally  for  shelf  lists,  and  al- 
most universally  for  the  accession  record,  where  entries 
are  consecutive,  and  interpolation  is  therefore  not  re- 
quired. 

Entries  may  be  made  on  catalogue  cards  in  three 
different  ways — written,  typewritten,  or  printed.  Writ- 
ten cards  have  much  in  their  favor  as  compared  with 
typewritten  ones,  especially  the  greater  possibility  of  va- 
riation in  lettering,  and  the  consequent  ability  to  em- 
phasize or  differentiate  in  the  entry  by  using  different 
letters  and  different  colored  inks.    The  invention  of  the 

185 


CATALOGUING 

bicolored  typewriter  ribbon  has  done  much  to  bring 
typewritten  cards  into  favor.  Manufacturers  of  type- 
writing machines  are  now  paying  special  attention  to 


c 


CollBgas  and  UnlTereitlee. 

Comj  ayre , Gabriel* 

Abelard  8t   the  origin  &  early  history 
of  iniversitiea.  1899. 


o 


Catalogue  Card,  Typewritten.      (Subject  card.) 


this  use  of  them,  and  almost  any  of  the  well-known 
makes  may  be  employed  in  writing  catalogue  cards. 

Printed  cards  are  best  of  all,  as  they  combine  abso- 
lute legibility  with  the  possibility  of  placing  the  maxi- 
mum number  of  words  on  a  card.  They  can,  however, 
be  used  only  by  large  libraries,  on  account  of  expense, 
except  in  cases  where  cooperative  cards  are  available. 
The  cards  printed  by  the  Library  of  Congress  are  now 
purchasable  at  cost  as  public  documents,  and  large  num- 
bers of  American  libraries  avail  themselves  of  the  privi- 
lege. These  cards  are  printed  for  all  current  accessions, 
including,  of  course,  all  current  American  copyright 
books,  and  also  for  selected  titles  among  the  accessions 
of  previous  years,  the  intention  being  to  make  ultimately 

186 


PRINTED    CARDS 

a  complete  printed  card  catalogue  of  the  National  Li- 
brary. A  very  large  proportion  of  the  current  pur- 
chases of  the  ordinary  small  town  or  city  library  may 
therefore  be  catalogued  in  this  way.  There  is  some  com- 
plaint that  the  cards  are  occasionally  slow  in  appearing, 
so  that  libraries  that  desire  to  keep  their  catalogues 
strictly  up  to  date  cannot  wait  for  them;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  cards  are  often  in  the  library's  posses- 
sion before  the  corresponding  books  are  on  the  market. 
Besides  these  cards,  other  printed  cards  are  available. 
The  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  has  is- 
sued such  cards  for  its  publications  for  many  years,  and 
analytical  cards  are  printed  by  the  publishers  of  certain 


8  2,4»     ^oX^Wu^    f?  q.'J.   ^g^emynJL.   Oz^c^. 


S3\ 


^ 


Catalogue  Card,  Written.     (Author  cajd.) 


works  of  reference,  as  well  as  by  the  American  Library 
Association  Publishing  Board.  If  this  goes  on,  the 
maker  of  a  catalogue  may  be  able  before  long  to  pur- 
chase all  but  a  few  of  his  cards  ready-made. 

187 


CATALOGUING 

The  hope  that  these  ready-made  cards  might  greatly 
reduce  the  labor  and  expense  of  cataloguing,  however, 
has  yet  been  realized  only  partially.  In  the  first  place, 
the  classification  used  is  generally  different  from  that  of 
the  using  library,  so  that  the  most  difficult  and  expen- 
sive part  of  the  cataloguer's  work  still  remains  to  be 
done.  Then  the  cards  are  usually  issued  in  only  one 
form — that  of  author  card — and  additions  must  be  writ- 


iHarrison,  Mrs.  Amelia  (Williams)]  1852-1903. 

Snow  Bird  and  the  Water  Tiger  and  other  American 
Indian  tales,  by  Margaret  Compton  ipseud.]  With  draw- 
ings by  Walter  Conant  Greenough.  New  York^  Dodd, 
Mead  and  company,  1895. 

Sp.  1.,  201p.    16  pi.  (incl.  col.  front.)    20""}' 
Illus.  t.-p: 


1.  Indians  of  North  America— Legends.    2,  Folk-lore,  Indian. 

(5-21226 
Library  of  Congress  E98.F6H3 ____^_ 


o 


Catalogue  Card,  Printed.      (Library  of  Congress.) 

:ten  or  typewritten  in  order  that  they  may  serve  as  title 
•  or  subject  cards.  Taking  everything  into  consideration, 
it  is  probable  that  the  advantages  of  such  cards  lie 
rather  in  the  fuller  forms  of  entry,  the  authoritative  an- 
notations, and  the  greater  legibility  than  in  cheapness. 
Such  cards  are  especially  useful  where  extensive  duplica- 
tion is  necessary,  as  where  a  library  has  a  large  system  of 
branches.  In  the  New  York  Public  Library,  for  in- 
stance, with  its  forty  branches,  the  purchase  of  a  book 

188 


I 


READY-MADE    CARDS 

requiring  four  cards  to  each  catalogue  would  necessitate 
an  order  for  160  printed  cards,  provided  it  were  to  be 
placed  in  each  branch.  This  would  be  an  exceptional 
case,  but  orders  for  50  to  100  duplicate  cards  are  not 
unusual.  If  ready-made  cards  are  not  obtainable,  print- 
ing, if  possible,  is,  of  course,  the  best  mode  of  duplica- 
tion, since  every  duplicate  is  as  legible  as  the  original. 
Duplication  by  carbon,  in  the  typewriter,  is  not  avail- 
able, owing  to  the  thickness  of  the  cards.  The  multi- 
graph  gives  as  legible  duplicates  as  the  printing 
press,  and  this  form  of  duplicator  is  now  widely  used 
for  this  purpose.  Written  and  typewritten  cards  alike 
may  be  duplicated  with  some  form  of  gelatine  machine, 
some  of  which  give  fairly  good  results. 

When  the  various  cards  of  a  catalogue  are  produced 
in  different  ways,  the  result  is  lack  of  uniformity,  to 
which  some  librarians  object.  Some  cataloguers,  whose 
libraries  cannot  go  to  the  expense  of  printing  all  their 
cards  uniformly,  are  having  all  typewritten  or  all  writ- 
ten in  the  same  style  of  library  hand  to  secure  uniform- 
ity. Lack  of  uniformity,  however,  provided  all  the 
cards  are  equally  legible,  does  not  interfere  with  the  use- 
fulness of  the  catalogue,  and  the  extra  labor  expended 
upon  making  them  uniform  is  better  employed  in  other 
ways. 

The  introduction  of  the  open-shelf  system  has  had 
some  important  bearings  on  the  arrangement  and  use  of 
catalogues.  If  all  the  books  in  such  an  arrangement 
were  to  remain  permanently  shelved,  they  would  theoret- 
ically serve  as  their  own  catalogue,  except  for  cross  ref- 
erence, which  could  well  be  introduced  on  dummies. 
But  practically  a  catalogue  is  still  needed.  The  case  is 
similar  to  that  of  the  alphabetical  arrangement  of  arti- 

189 


CATALOGUING 

cles  in  an  encyclopedia,  which,  it  was  formerly  thought, 
made  an  index  unnecessary.  The  material  in  each  arti- 
cle, however,  especially  when  it  is  at  all  comprehensive, 
requires  indexing  in  itself,  and  hence  all  good  encyclo- 
pedias now  include  an  index  volume,  so  that  the  alpha- 
betical arrangement  of  the  articles  themselves  is  no 
longer  absolutely  necessary,  and  has  even  been  given  up 
in  one  or  two  indexed  works  of  reference,  although  re- 
tained in  most  of  them.  A  cyclopedia  with  articles  ar- 
ranged alphabetically  or  in  some  classified  order  may  be 
compared  to  an  open-shelf  library;  one  without  orderly 
arrangement  of  any  kind,  to  a  closed-shelf  library,  in 
which  a  catalogue  is  an  absolute  necessity.  But  just  as 
no  orderly  arrangement  of  articles  in  a  cyclopedia  has 
made  it  possible  to  give  up  indexing  it,  so  no  accessible 
orderly  arrangement  of  books  on  shelves  has  enabled  li- 
brarians to  discard  the  catalogue.  Even  if  all  books 
remained  shelved,  the  necessity  for  cross  references  and 
analytical  entries,  as  well  as  for  many  author  and  title 
entries,  would  make  the  retention  of  the  catalogue  im- 
perative. But  in  a  circulating  collection  a  large  num- 
ber of  books  may  be  absent  for  months,  and  even  in  a 
reference  collection  a  considerable  part  may  be  with- 
drawn for  hours  at  a  time.  The  books  on  the  shelves, 
therefore,  at  no  time  represent  the  whole  collection,  and 
those  that  are  absent  are  apt  to  be  the  most  valuable  to 
the  user,  since  they  are  most  in  demand.  To  find  out 
what  the  collection  contains,  the  user  must  consult  the 
catalogue.  It  is  a  fact,  however,  that  as  soon  as  access 
to  a  collection  is  made  free  the  use  of  the  catalogue  at 
once  falls  off  noticeably.  In  a  closed-shelf  library  the 
cards  in  a  card  catalogue  are  so  frequently  handled  that 
the  edges  become  quickly  soiled,  and  they  require  re- 

190 


OPEN    SHELF    AND    CATALOGUE 

placement.  The  catalogue  cards  in  an  open-shelf  library 
stay  clean  almost  indefinitely.  Furthermore,  the  crowd 
around  the  catalogue  in  a  closed-shelf  library  and  its 
absence  in  an  open-shelf  library  tell  their  own  tale. 
These  contrasts  are  especially  noticeable  in  a  city  library 
where  some  branches  are  conducted  on  the  open-shelf 
and  some  on  the  closed-shelf  principle.  It  seems  clear, 
then,  that  the  users  of  an  open-shelf  collection  are  con- 
tent, in  general,  to  take  the  "  left-overs  "  that  they  find 
on  the  shelves,  without  investigation  of  the  library 's  real 
resources.  This  should  not  be  taken  as  an  argument 
against  free  access,  but  rather  as  an  intimation  to  the 
librarian  and  the  cataloguer  that  special  effort  should  be 
made  in  open-shelf  libraries  to  encourage  use  of  the  cat- 
alogue and  to  make  it  as  useful  as  possible.  The  user 
at  the  shelves  should  be  continually  reminded,  perhaps 
by  signs  and,  at  any  rate,  by  word  of  mouth,  that  the 
books  most  in  demand  on  the  subject  in  which  he  is  in- 
terested are  not  likely  to  be  found  on  the  shelves,  and 
that  these,  as  well  as  valuable  articles  and  chapters  on 
the  subject,  can  be  discovered  only  by  the  use  of  the 
catalogue.  The  cataloguer  should  bear  in  mind  that  ana- 
lytical entries  are  especially  valuable  in  an  open-shelf 
library,  and  that  time  may  be  gained  for  making  them 
by  omitting  much  of  the  imprint  and  superfluous  parts 
of  the  title  that  are  particularly  unnecessary  in  such  a 
library  on  account  of  the  accessibility  of  the  books  them- 
selves. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE   LIBRARY  STAFF 

The  duties  of  members  of  an  ordinary  library  staff 
may  be  (1)  administrative,  (2)  advisory  or  educational, 
(3)  disciplinary,  (4)  clerical,  or  (5)  connected  with  the 
actual  distribution  of  the  books,  including  their  pur- 
chase and  preparation. 

Administrative  work  is  that  of  the  librarian,  and  in 
large  libraries  of.  the  heads  of  departments — of  all,  in 
short,  who  direct  or  oversee  the  work  of  others  and  settle 
upon  matters  of  general  policy.  Advisory  work  is  done 
more  or  less  by  all  assistants  who  come  into  contact  with 
the  public,  but  especially  by  those  at  the  desk  or  on  floor 
duty,  children's  librarians,  and  reference  librarians. 
Disciplinary  work  is  also  shared  by  assistants  in  general 
to  some  degree,  but  a  larger  share  than  the  average  falls 
to  those  on  floor  duty,  to  custodians  of  reading  rooms, 
and  to  children's  librarians.  Clerical  work  involves 
keeping  the  statistical  records,  the  bookkeeping  of  the 
library,  the  preparation  of  overdue  postals,  reserve 
postals,  acknowledgment  of  gifts,  ordering  and  distri- 
bution of  supplies,  and  the  like,  and  the  writing  of 
letters  from  dictation.  There  is  little  of  it  in  a  small 
library.  The  work  connected  with  the  purchase,  prepa- 
ration, and  distribution  of  books  requires  more  time 
probably  than  all  the  other  classes  of  work  put  together. 
It  includes  the  selection  of  titles,  the  ordering  of  the 

192 


WORKING    HOURS 

books,  the  checking  of  the  bills,  the  various  operations 
of  cataloguing,  the  affixing  of  labels,  pockets,  and  so  on ; 
the  writing  of  book  cards;  application  work,  including 
the  receipt  and  filing  of  applications,  registration,  and 
the  issuing  of  borrowers '  cards ;  work  connected  with  the 
charging  and  discharging  of  books  at  the  desk,  the  as- 
sessment and  collection  of  fines  and  damages;  collation, 
mending,  and  selection  for  binding;  and,  finally,  with- 
drawal from  the  shelves  for  discarding.  All  these  oper- 
ations may  be  performed  by  the  same  person  or  persons, 
but  in  a  large  institution  there  are  separate  departments,v 
or  at  least  separate  assistants,  for  (1)  book  ordering,?; 
(2)  cataloguing  and  classification,^ '(3)  mending,  bind-' 
ing,  and  discarding.  Work  at  the  loai^  ^esk  is  also  some- 
times assigned  to  a  separate  bodv  of  assistants. 

Not  strictly  library  work,  but  fety  necessary  to  li- 
brary efficiency,  is  that  of  the  buildi|ng  staff,  which  often 
consists  of  but  one  man,  the  janitoir.  '  In  many  libraries 
he  lives,  witli(  his  family,  in  the  l|)uil4ing  and  is  con- 
stantly witliinMeall.  Besides  the  ordinary  duties  of  car-' 
ing  for  the  building,  its  safety  and  cleanliness,  jits  light- i 
ing  and  heating,  he  is  sometimes  charged  with -the  ;care 
of  grounds,  where  there  are  any,  with  messenger  wo'Tk, 
or  with  police  functions. 

The  working  hours  for  each  member  of  the  staff  in 
an  American  public  library  vary  from  six  to  eight  daily. 
Most  libraries  are  open  more  hours  in  a  day  than  this, 
and  the  hours  of  work  are  adjusted  either  by  employing 
a  special  evening  force  or  by  correspondingly  increasing 
the  regular  staff  and  dividing  the  evening  work  among 
its  members,  or  among  part  of  them.  In  the  latter  case, 
each  member  may  be  required  to  work  the  same  number 
of  hours  daily,  but  at  different  times  of  day,  or  the  work- 

193 


THE    LIBRARY    STAFF 

ing  hours  of  a  given  assistant  may  be  longer  on  the  days 
when  evening  work  is  assigned  than  on  the  others.  It 
may  even  be  possible  to  allow  the  greater  part  of  a  day 
or  a  whole  day  off  every  week,  and  still  to  keep  up 
the  required  daily  average.  This  latter  system  is  gen- 
erally in^favor  among  assistants  where  a  special  night 
force  is  not  employed,  but  it  is  apt  to  be  condemned  by 


Name 


New  York  Public  Library, 

CIRCULATION  oePASTlle^rr, 


Branch. 


190 


Oep-t. 


Tiaa 
Lost 


REMARKS 


Time  Sheet. 


head  librarians.  The  former  report  that  the  weekly  holi- 
day is  so  advantageous  from  the  standpoint  of  general 
health  that  the  quality  of  their  work  is  improved;  the 
latter  say  that  schedule-making  is  rendered  doubly  diffi- 
cult by  the  irregularity,  that  it  is  hard  to  concentrate 
the  work  of  the  force  on  those  hours  when  it  is  most 
needed,  and  that  the  working  hours  are  too  long  for  good 
work  on  the  longer  days.  As  regards  a  separate  evening 
force,  it  may  be  said  in  favor  of  the  plan  that  it  makes 

194 


HOLIDAYS 

possible  an  absolutely  uniform  daily  schedule,  which  is 
much  easier  for  administrators;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  transition  between  the  day  and  night  forces  is  ab- 
rupt, they  do  not  work  together,  and  the  work  is  sep- 
arated arbitrarily  into  two  daily  sections,  with  more  or 
less  breach  of  continuity.  Absolute  uniformity  of  daily 
work,  too,  is  not  a  desideratum  with  the  working  staff, 
most  of  whose  members  prefer  variety  and  work  better 
when  they  have  it,  especially  when  it  involves  a  consid- 
erable rest  period  on  some  one  day.  A  similar  problem 
presents  itself  in  the  case  of  holidays.  Legal  holidays  or 
their  equivalent  are  generally  allowed  to  the  staff,  even 
when  the  library  is  kept  open  for  full  hours.  A  special 
force  may  be  employed  for  such  days,  or  holiday  work 
throughout  the  year  may  be  divided  among  the  staff, 
those  who  work  being  given  the  time  on  some  other  day. 
The  objections  to  the  special  force  are  of  the  same 
nature,  though  stronger,  than  those  to  a  special  evening 
force.  Compulsory  division  of  holiday  labor  works  well 
enough  on  some  holidays,  such  as  Memorial  Day  or  La- 
bor Day ;  and  when  the  library  is  closed  on  such  days  as 
Christmas  and  the  Fourth  of  July  this  plan  is  probably 
the  best.  But  all  holidays  are  not  equally  desirable,  and 
when  a  library  is  open  on  Christmas,  an  assistant  would 
hardly  feel  compensated  for  working  on  that  day  by  the 
knowledge  that  some  other  member  of  the  staff  had  been 
forced  to  work  on  Labor  Day.  A  successful  plan,  satis- 
factory to  all,  is  to  operate  the  library  on  all  holidays,  or 
at  least  on  the  important  ones,  with  volunteers  from  the 
regular  staff,  and  to  increase  the  compensation  for  those 
days  to  such  a  degree  as  to  make  it  worth  while  to  vol- 
unteer. In  the  New  York  Public  Library,  whose  Carne- 
gie branch  buildings  are  open  on  legal  holidays,  extra 
14  195 


THE    LIBRARY   STAFF 

pay  is  given  for  such  days,  calculated  on  the  basis  of  the 
regular  salary ;  and  there  has  never  been  any  trouble  in 
securing  the  requisite  number  of  volunteers. 

Most  libraries  allow  a  certain  period  yearly  for  ill- 
ness ;  and  in  the  case  of  old  and  valued  assistants  longer 
periods  are  sometimes  excused,  full  salary  being  paid. 
The  trouble  about  the  allowance  of  a  definite  period  is 
that  an  idea  is  apt  to  grow  in  the  minds  of  the  staff  that 
they  are  expected  to  take  this  amount,  and  assistants  re- 
main at  home  for  indispositions  so  slight  that  they  would 
otherwise  be  unnoticed.  Heads  of  libraries  are  obliged 
to  be  on  their  guard  against  the  spread  of  such  an  im- 
pression as  this. 

Library  vacations  vary  from  two  weeks  to  one  month 
yearly,  with  salary — quite  commonly  the  larger  period. 
This  is  large,  compared  with  commercial  vacations,  but 
small  compared  with  the  three  months  allowed  the 
teacher,  with  whom  the  librarian,  as  an  educator,  insists 
upon  being  compared.  Vacations  are  commonly  taken 
in  summer,  when  the  work  is  slack,  generally  in  the 
months  from  June  to  September,  inclusive.  August  is  a 
favorite  month,  and  if  libraries  could  be  universally 
closed  at  this  time  the  assistants,  if  not  the  public,  would 
be  pleased. 

Leaves  of  absence,  without  salary,  are  granted  with 
greater  or  less  freedom  in  different  institutions.  The 
woman  assistant  is  not  generally  robust,  and  she  often 
needs  an  extra  month  to  recuperate.  It  is  often  good 
policy  to  allow  it  in  some  cases  where  such  a  favor  would 
not  be  thought  of  in  a  staff  composed  wholly  of  men.  If 
granted  to  many  persons  at  once,  especially  in  the  vaca- 
tion season,  however,  such  leaves  run  the  risk  of  seri- 
ously injuring  the  efficiency  of  the  library.    The  libra- 

196 


SALARIES 

rian  has  then  to  choose  between  the  chance  of  losing 
an  assistant  permanently  from  overwork  or  nervous 
breakdown  and  the  certainty  of  crippling  the  work 
of  his  library  by  operating  it  with  substitutes. 

This  inability  of  many  woman  assistants  to  do  the 
year's  work  without  breaking  down,  even  when  a 
month's  vacation  is  allowed,  brings  up  the  question  of 
the  employment  of  women  in  libraries.  A  very  large 
proportion  of  the  assistants  in  American  public  libra- 
ries is  now  made  up  of  women.  Library  work  is  gen- 
erally regarded  as  a  *' genteel"  employment,  pecul- 
iarly fitted  for  women.  That  it  is  so  fitted  no  one  will 
deny;  but  it  is  not  suited  for  any  who  are  not  in  ro- 
bust health. 

It  may  be  noted  here,  on  the  other  side  of  the  shield, 
that  a  recent  report  of  the  medical  officer  of  the  New 
York  Public  Library  states  that  the  women  assistants 
in  that  library  are  in  better  physical  condition  than  the 
men.  If  this  should  ever  prove  to  be  generally  true, 
what  has  been  said  above  may  need  revision. 

The  salaries  paid  to  women  assistants  are  not  as 
high  as  those  received  by  teachers  of  the  same  grade, 
with  which  they  may  be  properly  compared.  It  is 
difficult  to  decide  upon  corresponding  grades  in  the  two 
professions,  but,  sex  for  sex,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  in  a 
small  town  a  school  principal  receives  three  times  as 
much  as  the  head  of  the  public  library,  and  assistants 
are  paid  in  even  a  higher  ratio,  while  in  a  large  city  the 
head  of  a  school  has  a  salary  two  to  three  times  larger 
than  that  of  a  branch  librarian.  Library  salaries  are 
tending  upward,  but  so  are  school  salaries,  and  it  will  be 
a  long  time  before  the  former  overtake  the  latter.  In 
estimating  salaries  it  should  be  remembered  also  that 

197 


THE    LIBRARY    STAFF 

teachers  work  nine  months  of  the  year  and  librarians 
eleven  months. 

Certainly,  as  things  now  are,  although  American 
library  salaries  are  far  higher  than  those  paid  for  the 
same  work  in  other  countries,  no  one  would  be  attracted 
to  the  library  profession  in  this  country  oi;i  account  of 
its  financial  emoluments  alone.  Only  a  few  of  the  larger 
positions  pay  over  $5,000  a  year.  Heads  of  departments 
in  large  libraries  may  receive  $1,500  to  $3,000,  and  chief 
librarians  in  the  smaller  cities  about  the  same.  Women 
who  are  the  heads  of  town  libraries,  with  three  to  six  as- 
sistants, are  paid  $800  to  $1,200;  heads  of  city  branch 
libraries  about  the  same.  Assistants  of  the  higher  grades 
receive  $650  to  $1,000 ;  those  of  lower  grades  from  $500 
up.  Special  work,  such  as  that  with  children,  com- 
mands a  somewhat  higher  rate  of  compensation.  These 
rates  have  risen  during  twenty-five  years  past,  but  hard- 
ly more  than  the  cost  of  living.  In  New  York,  public- 
library  salaries,  for  example,  have  increased  in  that  time 
from  50  to  100  per  cent ;  the  average  would  be  nearer  the 
smaller  figure — perhaps  60  per  cent.  The  rate  is  so  low 
in  the  lower  grades  as  to  preclude  the  employment  of 
any  but  those  living  at  home  in  the  city  where  the  library 
is  situated.  This  is  not  conducive  to  the  improvement  of 
assistants  in  quality  of  work  and  in  education,  and,  be- 
sides, it  favors  the  employment  of  those  who  work  not 
for  self-support,  but  merely  for  pin  money.  This  class, 
especially  large  among  women  workers,  exercises  a  po- 
tent influence  in  keeping  down  the  salaries  of  women, 
and  its  members,  not  being  dependent  on  what  they 
earn,  are  less  often  interested  in  their  work  and  more  apt 
to  leave  it  on  some  slight  pretext.  Another  respect  in 
which  library  positions  are  still  inferior  from  the  stand- 

198 


PROMOTIONS 

point  of  compensation  is  that  of  pensions.  Here  and 
there  the  head  of  a  library  who  has  spent  his  life  in  its 
service  is  retired  on  a  pension,  but  no  library  has  a  com- 
prehensive system  such  as  those  now  common  in  other 
occupations.  A  general  fund  to  be  used  for  pensioning 
librarians,  in  the  same  way  that  the  $15,000,000  Car- 
negie Foundation  serves  to  pension  college  professors,  is 
looked  forward  to  by  many  librarians  as  a  possibility,  or 
at  least  an  ideal,  of  the  future,  and  a  committee  of  the 
American  Library  Association  has  collected  statistics 
with  a  view  to  facilitating  the  endowment  of  such  a 
fund.  Of  course,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  the  forma- 
tion of  a  voluntary  benefit  association  among  the  em- 
ployees of  any  library,  either  with  or  without  the  cooper- 
ation of  the  authorities,  or  the  compulsory  withdrawal 
of  a  certain  percentage  from  each  salary,  to  be  held  by 
the  library  for  this  purpose.  But  to  set  a  system  of  this 
kind  in  operation  a  considerable  sum  is  needed  at  the 
outset,  even  when  the  contributions  or  enforced  percent- 
ages of  the  employees  are  sufficient  to  keep  it  going. 
This  means  the  raising  of  an  endowment  fund,  the  as- 
sumption of  liability  by  a  municipality  or  other  cor- 
porate body,  or  the  stipulation  that  no  pension  shall  be 
paid  until  the  fund  has  grown  to  the  required  sum. 
This  last  plan  involves  contribution  by  many  employees 
without  hope  of  return,  and  is  both  unfair  and  imprac- 
ticable. 

In  American  public  libraries  increases  of  salary  are 
made  in  various  ways,  which  they  share  with  other  in- 
stitutions of  all  kinds.  Salaries  may  be  raised  (1)  for 
length  of  approved  service,  whether  strictly  by  seniority, 
as  in  the  army,  or  with  some  variation  from  the  exact 
order;  (2)  by  selection  presumably,  but  not  necessarily, 

199 


THE    LIBRARY   STAFF 

for  merit;  (3)  for  merit,  as  ascertained  by  a  test  of  some 
sort.  These  criteria  are  often  combined  in  one  way  or 
another.  For  instance,  the  force  may  be  divided  into 
grades,  according  to  the  kind  of  work  required  of  them, 
a  maximum  and  minimum  of  salary  being  prescribed  for 
each  grade.  Within  the  grade  increase  of  salary  may  be 
for  good  work,  or  for  length  of  service,  or  for  both. 
Promotion  from  grade  to  grade  may  depend  on  the  pas- 
sage of  an  examination,  on  satisfactory  work  in  the  pre- 
vious grade,  and  on  personal  qualifications.  The  num- 
ber in  some  grades  will  be  limited  by  the  necessities  of 
the  case,  as,  for  instance,  when  a  grade  consists  only  of 
branch  librarians.  In  such  a  case  either  of  two  plans 
may  be  followed.  Those  who  have  qualified  for  the  class 
may  be  placed  on  an  eligible  list,  and  selection  may  be 
made  from  these  to  fill  a  vacancy,  on  its  occurrence, 
either  by  seniority  or  according  to  personal  qualifica- 
tions. Or,  no  one  need  be  allowed  to  qualify  until  the 
vacancy  occurs,  when  the  test  may  be  competitive  or 
selection  may  be  made  at  will  from  those  who  pass  it  for 
this  occasion  only.  Libraries  that  have  been  placed  un- 
der city  civil-service  rules  are  relieved  from  all  responsi- 
bilities in  this  matter,  but  most  librarians  do  not  like 
this  plan.  Civil-service  examiners  rarely  frame  exami- 
nations to  suit  library  requirements,  and  the  selection 
and  promotion  of  the  library  force  is  better  cared  for  by 
its  own  trustees. 

As  to  examinations  in  general,  it  may  be  admitted 
that  they  are  an  imperfect  method  of  ascertaining  fit- 
ness. They  have,  however,  the  advantage  of  making  it 
evident  that  all  candidates  are  to  be  treated  exactly  alike, 
and,  taken  in  connection  with  observation  of  work  and 
personal  qualifications,  they  are  productive  of  satisfac- 

200 


Bates  Hall  (Reading  Room),  Boston  Public  Library. 


Reading  Room,  Library  of  Congress,  Washington,  D.  C. 


\ 


STAFF    ROOMS 

tory  results.  The  ordinary  civil-service  examination,  as 
viewed  by  the  comic  paragrapher,  has  little  to  do  with 
the  duties  of  the  position ;  examiners  are  popularly  sup- 
posed to  question  would-be  policemen  on  Siberian  geog- 
raphy, firemen  on  the  theory  of  equations,  and  so  on. 
There  has  been  some  justification  in  the  past  for  such 
ideas,  and  library  examinations  should  be  kept  strictly  to 
the  subject  in  hand,  general  education  being  ascertained 
by  school  certificates.  Subjects  that  are  eminently 
proper  for  examination,  as  knowledge  of  them  is  re- 
quired daily  by  the  library  assistant,  are  library  econ- 
omy, literature,  general  information,  statistics,  and  lan- 
guages. This  subject  is  treated  further  in  the  chapter  on 
Library  Training. 

In  all  good  library  buildings  special  quarters  are  as- 
signed to  the  staff.  The  uses  of  these  are  various.  They 
generally  include  cloakrooms;  toilet  accommodations; 
space  for  rest,  especially  in  case  of  sudden  indisposition ; 
and  facilities  for  preparing  and  eating  a  light  meal. 
Preferably  the  rooms  should  be  all  together,  and  in  a 
small  library  most  of  them  may  be  concentrated  in  one 
room,  although  some  libraries  prefer  that  the  cloak- 
room, or  lockers  for  wraps,  should  be  in  a  different  part 
of  the  building  from  the  lunch  and  rest  rooms.  Facili- 
ties for  lunch  will  naturally  be  more  elaborate  in 
large  cities,  where  the  distances  interfere  with  taking 
lunch  at  home.  Here  there  is  often  a  separate  room,  or 
at  least  a  separate  alcove,  for  a  kitchen,  with  sink, 
dresser,  and  gas  stove.  If  there  is  to  be  any  more  use  of 
the  stove  than  the  mere  heating  of  water  for  tea,  the 
kitchen  should  be  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  staff 
quarters  by  a  tight  door,  and  should  have  an  outside 
window.     The  rest  room   and   room   for  eating   lunch 

201 


THE    LIBRARY   STAFF 

may  properly  be  combined.  The  quarters,  with  the  pos- 
sible exception  of  the  lockers  for  wraps,  should  be  on  an 
upper  floor.  When  it  is  desirable  to  have  them  access- 
ible, they  should  be  equally  distant  from  all  depart- 
ments, but  some  librarians  prefer  to  have  them  in  a 
somewhat  remote  part  of  the  building.  Libraries  having 
both  men  and  women  on  the  force  must,  of  course,  pro- 
vide separate  staff  accommodations  for  them. 

In  most  American  libraries  meetings  of  the  staff,  en- 
tire or  in  part,  are  held  either  statedly  or  occasionally, 
on  call  of  the  librarian.  The  different  kinds  may  be 
illustrated  by  these  held  in  the  New  York  Public  Li- 
brary. Here  the  whole  staff  of  the  library  is  invited  to 
meet  the  Director  at  stated  intervals  ( at  present,  once  in 
two  months),  except  in  summer.  These  meetings  are 
much  like  those  of  a  library  club.  A  programme  is  ar- 
ranged by  a  committee,  which  appoints  a  different 
chairman  for  each  meeting ;  and  refreshments  are  served 
by  an  entertainment  committee.  According  to  the  inter- 
est of  the  programme^  the  attendance  may  vary  from 
fifty  up  to  several  hundred.  Different  evenings  in  the 
week  are  chosen  for  meeting,  so  that  no  assistant  may  be 
always  prevented  from  attending  by  being  on  evening 
duty.  A  meeting  of  the  librarians  in  charge  of  branches 
is  held  weekly,  with  certain  exceptions.  This  has  no  so- 
cial features,  nor  is  there  any  formal  programme.  The 
business  consists  in  the  discussion  of  current  books,  the 
examination  of  a  certain  number  of  these  sent  to  the 
library  on  approval,  the  discussion  of  current  points  of 
library  administration,  and  the  giving  out  of  notices  by 
the  heads  of  departments.  No  matter  is  decided  by  vote, 
although  votes  are  sometimes  taken  to  secure  an  expres- 
sion of  opinion.    In  libraries  where  no  branch  system  ex- 

202 


STAFF    MEETINGS 

ists,  and  even  in  some  where  it  does  exist,  a  meeting  of 
the  heads  of  offices  or  departments  is  often  held  for 
similar  purposes  and  conducted  in  a  similar  way. 

Each  head  of  a  branch  library  is  permitted  to  hold  a 
meeting  of  her  own  staff  at  stated  intervals,  and  most  of 
them  take  advantage  of  this  permission.  The  assistants 
generally  sit  about  a  table,  and  there  is  informal  discus- 
sion of  matters  pertaining  to  the  branch.  This  type  of 
meeting  is  appropriate  to  any  small  library. 

Heads  of  departments  meet  with  assistants  engaged 
in  their  own  line  of  work,  for  instruction  in  and  discus- 
sion of  methods.  Thus  the  Supervisor  of  Children's 
Work  meets  with  heads  of  children 's  rooms ;  the  Super- 
visor of  School  Work,  with  school  assistants;  the  Su- 
pervisor of  Practice,  with  the  branch-librarians,  in  re- 
gard to  the  practice  of  the  Library  School  students 
and  of  the  probationers  for  library  service. 

These  meetings  probably  represent  all  of  the  various 
types  possible  or  desirable  in  any  ordinary  public  li- 
brary. In  some  institutions  such  a  meeting  is  dignified 
by  some  such  name  as  that  of  *'  Library  Council, '^  and 
it  is  endowed  with  quasi-legislative  functions.  Such 
functions  are,  however,  exercised  merely  by  permission 
of  the  librarian,  who  may  obviously  follow  the  direc- 
tions of  his  council  or  n6t,  as  he  likes.  Its  relations  to 
him  are  advisory,  like  those  of  the  President's  Cabinet, 
and  are  not  properly  legislative,  although  they  might,  of 
course,  be  made  so  by  action  of  the  trustees.  Advice 
from  members  of  the  staff  is,  or  should  be,  an  important 
factor  in  the  administration  of  every  library,  and  it 
should  be  taken  both  individually  and  collectively.  A 
librarian  may  learn  much  and  receive  many  valuable 
suggestions  from  a  private  conversation  with  a  member 

203 


THE    LIBRARY   STAFF 

of  his  staff  that  would  not  be  placed  at  his  disposal  in  a 
general  meeting.  On  the  other  hand,  information  may 
come  to  light  and  ideas  may  be  thrown  out  in  the  give- 
and-take  of  informal  discussion  at  a  round-table  meet- 
ing which  would  probably  never  make  their  appearance 
in  any  other  way. 

In  the  course  of  time  a  body  of  custom,  tradition, 
and  minor  rules  and  regulations  grows  up  in  a  library. 
The  action  of  members  of  the  staff  is  guided  by  these, 
often  unconsciously.  It  is  a  matter  of  opinion  to  what 
extent  it  is  desirable  to  codify  them,  or  even  to  commit 
them  to  writing.  A  certain  amount  of  elasticity  must 
exist  in  any  such  system,  and  any  attempt  to  formulate 
a  fixed  code  is  apt  to  meet  with  failure.  The  exceptions 
will  be  more  numerous  than  the  rules,  and  changes  or 
additions  will  be  found  necessary  almost  daily.  The 
tendency  toward  rigidity  or  elasticity  will  depend  largely 
on  the  librarian 's  turn  of  mind.  One  administrator  may 
prefer  to  make  an  attempt  at  an  extensive  code  of  rules, 
another  may  be  content  with  laying  down  general  prin- 
ciples and  noting  a  few  applications,  while  a  third  may 
reject  all  formulation.  Still  another  method  is  to  re- 
quire reference  to  the  librarian  in  all  doubtful  cases — a 
plan  that  is  perhaps  best  in  a  small  staff  of  inexperi- 
enced assistants. 

In  a  large  library,  and  especially  in  one  with  a  sys- 
tem of  widely  scattered  branches,  some  means  of  com- 
munication between  the  librarian  and  the  members  of 
his  staff  becomes  a  necessity.  Notices  may  be  given  out 
at  staff  meetings,  and  written  bulletins  may  be  sent  out 
or  posted  at  intervals.  One  of  the  most  effective  ways 
of  securing  attention  to  these  notices  is  to  send  them  out 
collectively  at  stated  intervals  in  the  form  of  a  written 

204 


STAFF    NEWSPAPER 

or  mimeographed  "  newspaper,"  in  which  may  also  be 
included  a  calendar  of  events  and  such  local  notes  as 
may  seem  likely  to  interest  the  staff.  Such  a  staff  paper 
is  now  issued  at  several  libraries,  and  in  some  cases  it 
has  assumed,  more  or  less,  the  form  of  a  general  library 
paper.  This  should  not  be  carried  so  far  as  to  conceal 
the  character  of  the  paper  as  an  official  bulletin.  Every 
member  of  the  staff  should  be  required  to  read  it  as  soon 
as  issued,  and  to  consider  the  notices  contained  therein, 
so  far  as  they  apply,  as  personal  orders.  Ignorance  of 
its  contents  should  not  be  received  as  an  excuse. 


CHAPTEE    XV 

LIBRARY  PHILANTHROPY 

Probably  no  public  activity  has  received  larger  gifts 
from  individual  benefactors  than  the  library.  Such  gifts 
have  been  so  many  and  so  large,  especially  during  the 
past  fifteen  years,  that  they  have  been  looked  upon  with 
disfavor  by  many  persons,  who  believe  that  the  growth 
of  libraries  has  been  stimulated  abnormally  by  them. 
This  is,  however,  a  superficial  view.  That  library  growth 
and  extension  have  been  favored  by  such  gifts  is  indu- 
bitable; but  such  growth  has  still  been  normal — the 
growth  of  a  well-watered  plant,  not  that  of  hothouse 
fruit.  That  this  is  so  may  be  seen  from  a  study  of  the 
distribution  of  library  extension  over  the  country.  It 
has  by  no  means  been  confined  to  places  where  large 
gifts  have  made  it  easy,  but  either  the  growth  or  its  pre- 
liminary symptoms  appear  in  thousands  of  regions  that 
neither  hope  for  nor  expect  such  gifts.  Again,  in  many 
places  where  gifts  were  available  the  community  has 
preferred  not  to  take  advantage  of  them,  but  to  establish 
its  own  library  and  provide  it  with  a  building  entirely 
at  public  expense.  Most  of  the  larger  library  gifts,  too, 
have  been  of  such  a  nature  that  they  require  public  co- 
operation, so  that,  in  the  long  run,  the  private  benefac- 
tion that  is  the  nucleus  of  the  library  snowball  is  almost 
as  nothing  within  the  accreted  mass  of  public  contribu- 
tions that  clings  around  it.     This  public  aid  has  been 

206 


GIFTS    THE    RESULT    OF    CONDITIONS 

cheerfully  given.  It  has,  apparently,  resulted  from  the 
general  recognition  of  a  fact  to  which  public  attention 
has  been  forcibly  directed  by  the  gift  rather  than  from 
any  kind  of  abnormal  stimulation.  The  large  benefac- 
tions of  recent  years  have,  in  fact,  been  directed  into  the 
library  channel  by  the  donors*  farseeing  recognition  of 
a  public  need  rather  than  by  any  desire  to  establish  in- 
stitutions without  which  the  public  could  get  on  just  as 
well.  In  fact,  it  is  perhaps  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
present  library  plant  of  the  United  States,  representing 
as  it  does  many  million  dollars '  worth  of  gifts,  as  well  as 
a  still  larger  amount  from  public  contribution,  would 
have  come  into  being,  in  some  such  fashion  as  at  pres- 
ent, without  a  single  gift,  although  not,  of  course,  as 
soon  as  it  has  done. 

The  elementary  fact  to  which  this  recent  multiplica- 
tion of  library  gifts  has  been  a  response,  and  which  has 
made  itself  evident  in  many  other  fields  than  that  of  the 
library,  is  the  great  recent  increase  in  the  number  of 
habitual  readers — a  necessary  incident  of  the  spread  of 
popular  education.  In  part,  of  course,  this  increase  is 
itself  due  to  the  multiplication  of  popular  libraries.  The 
number  of  books  available  for  popular  reading  and  the 
number  of  persons  qualified  to  read  them  are  interde- 
pendent quantities,  like  the  area  and  the  temperature  of 
ignition.  Fire  raises  the  temperature,  and  the  raised  tem- 
perature causes  more  material  to  take  fire,  so  that  the 
burning  goes  on  "  of  itself. ' '  So  readers  demand  books, 
and  an  available  supply  of  books  incites  more  persons  to 
read.  This  process,  too,  like  all  educational  processes, 
thus  goes  on  *  *  of  itself  '  *  so  long  as  there  is  any  fuel ; 
in  other  words,  any  human  beings  with  brains.  Given  a 
number  of  intelligent  men  and  women  and  means  by 

207 


LIBRARY    PHILANTHROPY 

which  they  may  become  acquainted  with  the  results  of 
human  thought  elsewhere  in  the  world  and  at  other 
times  than  their  own,  and  libraries  and  readers^ — both  in- 
creasing in  number — follow  as  a  matter  of  course.  Li- 
brary donations,  therefore,  are  due  to  man's  desire  to 
help  his  fellow-man,  directed  into  one  of  the  channels  of 
least  resistance. 

It  does  not  follow,  of  course,  that  these  donations 
have  always  been  made  in  the  most  enlightened  way. 
Probably  the  least  wise  are  those  under  which  buildings 
have  been  erected  or  libraries  have  been  established  with 
no  provision  for  their  support  and  maintenance.  In 
such  a  case  the  library  is  generally  a  private  memorial, 
and  public  support  is  difficult,  under  the  circumstances, 
to  procure  for  it.  Such  a  memorial  should  be  accompa- 
nied by  a  sufficient  endowment  to  keep  it  up  properly; 
but  as  a  gift  of  this  kind  is  entirely  removed  from  the 
public,  which  has  no  part,  and  therefore  no  interest,  in 
the  way  in  which  it  is  carried  on,  it  is  by  no  means  the 
best  form  of  library  donation.  Probably  the  best  way  to 
contribute  money  to  a  public  library  without  removing 
the  public  from  a  share  in  its  activities  is  the  one  that 
has  been  the  object  of  the  greatest  number  of  attacks, 
namely,  the  one  typified  by  the  gifts  of  Mr.  Andrew  Car- 
negie. Mr.  Carnegie's  gifts  have  almost  exclusively 
taken  the  form  of  buildings — not  the  essential  part  of  a 
library,  as  has  been  frequently  pointed  out.  These 
buildings,  however,  have  not  been  erected  and  then  left 
to  take  care  of  themselves,  as  in  the  cases  referred  to 
above,  for  the  gifts  are  always  made  on  the  express  con- 
dition that  the  municipality  (in  which  the  title  is  always 
vested)  will  execute  a  contract  to  support  the  institu- 
tion by  a  yearly  grant  of  not  less  than  one  tenth  of  the 

2oa 


CARNEGIE    GIFTS 

value  of  the  gift.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  one  tenth  is  gen- 
erally insufficient ;  in  exceptional  cases  a  requirement  of 
fifteen  per  cent  has  been  included  in  the  contract;  and 
it  has  been  suggested  that  this  might  well  be  made  a 
general  rule.  Ten  per  cent,  however,  is  merely  an  in- 
ferior limit;  the  city  or  town  binds  itself  in  any  case  to 
support  the  library  properly ;  and  in  all  instances  where 
it  has  been  shown  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  authorities 
that  ten  per  cent  is  insufficient,  a  larger  appropriation 
has  generally  been  forthcoming.  In  New  York,  for  in- 
stance, where  the  average  value  of  Carnegie  branch 
buildings  is  $80,000,  the  average  cost  of  maintenance  is 
$12,000 — fifteen  per  cent  instead  of  ten — but  the  city  has 
not  objected  to  the  increased  amount  required.  In  St. 
Louis  the  two  fifths  mill  tax  levied  by  the  city  for 
library  purposes  brings  in  about  $200,000,  whereas  the 
total  amount  contributed  by  Mr.  Carnegie  for  buildings 
is  $1,000,000.  In  fact,  in  making  these  gifts,  the  donor 
has  seen  to  it  that  the  institution  so  established  or  aided 
shall  be  permanent,  and  he  has  so  arranged  it  that  the 
part  of  the  work  assumed  by  the  public  shall  be  that 
which  insures  its  continued  and  vital  interest.  Had  the 
donor  merely  agreed  to  endow  such  libraries  as  should 
be  provided  with  proper  buildings  by  the  municipality, 
the  result,  while  financially  the  same,  would  have  been 
practically  inferior.  As  it  is,  the  public  is  closely  inter- 
ested in  the  way  in  which  the  library  is  administered, 
and  may  be  moved,  as  in  some  recent  cases,  to  protest 
against  what  it  considers  an  inefficient  or  out-of-date 
management,  which  would  hardly  be  the  case  with  an  en- 
dowed institution. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that,  in  some  instances,  towns 
have  accepted  a  gift  from  Mr.   Carnegie  where  they 

209 


LIBRARY   PHILANTHROPY 

could  ill  afford  his  conditions.  This,  of  course,  was  bad 
judgment  on  their  part.  The  conditions  are  always 
fully  stated;  moreover,  they  are  always  the  same,  have 
become  widely  known,  and  their  operation  in  hundreds 
of  cases  is  familiar  to  all  who  are  interested  sufficiently 
to  look  them  up.  More  than  one  municipality,  including 
several  cities  of  considerable  size,  have  refused  offers 
from  this  donor  because  they  considered  his  conditions 
onerous.  In  so  doing  they  have  been  quite  within  their 
rights,  and  are  more  worthy  of  praise  than  if  they  had 
overburdened  themselves  by  accepting  the  gift.  It  may 
be  doubted,  however,  whether  there  may  not  be  a  better 
course  in  every  case  than  outright  rejection,  except  in 
cases  where  the  town  has  decided  upon  a  library,  but 
prefers  to  establish  it  without  outside  aid.  The  position 
that  a  city  or  town  needs  no  public  library  is  an  impos- 
sible one  to  take  in  this  stage  of  the  country's  progress. 
The  maintenance  of  such  an  educational  factor  is  a 
proper  charge  against  the  annual  budget,  and  it  ought 
to  be  possible  to  calculate  what  sum  may  be  appropri- 
ated yearly  without  making  the  tax  rate  burdensome. 
This  sum  may  then  be  capitalized  at  ten  per  cent  (if 
this  is  the  proportion  named  in  the  conditions),  and  the 
donor  may  be  notified  that  a  gift  of  this  size  will  be 
accepted.  It  is  worth  noting,  however,  that  in  some  of 
the  principal  cases  where  large  gifts,  offered  by  Mr.  Car- 
negie, have  been  refused,  some  consideration  other  than 
expense  has  had  weight.  Two  such  cases  are  Richmond, 
Va.,  and  Albany,  N.  Y.,  which  latter  place  rejected  his 
offer  in  a  popular  election  held  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
sidering it.  In  Richmond  it  is  said  that  hesitation  over 
the  race  problem  had  much  to  do  with  the  refusal,  al- 
though this  question,  as  noted  elsewhere,  has  been  at- 

210 


ANDREW    CARNEGIE 

tacked  and  solved  by  other  Southern  cities;  and  in 
Albany  the  hostility  of  the  labor  element  was  a  potent 
factor  in  the  action  that  was  taken. 

The  gifts  of  Mr.  Carnegie  have  made  up  such  a  large 
part  of  American  library  philanthropy  that  no  excuse  is 
necessary  for  going  into  them  somewhat  at  length.  An- 
drew Carnegie  is  a  millionaire  ironmaster,  who  was 
born  in  Dunfermline,  Scotland,  in  1835,  and  came  to  this 
country  as  a  boy  in  1845.  Beginning  as  a  telegraph 
messenger,  he  became  finally  the  proprietor  of  a  large 
iron-rolling  mill,  from  which  grew  his  immense  control 
of  the  iron  and  steel  industries.  His  donations  to  libra- 
ries now  (March  15,  1917)  amount  to  $65,069,000,  dis- 
tributed among  2,865  institutions.  Mr.  Carnegie's  in- 
terest in  libraries  dates  from  the  time  when,  as  a  poor 
boy,  he  was  benefited  by  access  to  one.  He  has  publicly 
disclaimed  the  title  of  philanthropist,  asserting  that  he  is 
"'  no  such  foolish  fellow."  His  gifts,  as  already  noted, 
are  made  in  such  a  way  that  the  recipient  must  ulti- 
mately contribute  a  far  larger  amount  than  the  donor, 
and  that  this  contribution  shall  be  continuous,  insuring 
the  recipient's  direct  financial  interest  in  the  efficient 
operation  of  the  library.  Such  gifts  have  been  regarded 
in  all  sorts  of  ways,  some  persons  looking  at  them  as  no 
gifts  at  all  and  others  as  the  only  appropriate  form  of 
donation. 

Mr.  Carnegie's  donations  have  also  been  looked  upon 
as  prompted  solely  or  largely  by  egotism  and  desire 
for  self-advertisement.  It  should  be  noted  that  none  of 
them  have  been  accompanied  by  any  stipulation  or  re- 
quest that  the  donor  shall  be  commemorated  in  any  way, 
or  even  that  his  name  shall  be  inscribed  on  the  building. 
The  name  **  Carnegie  libraries  "  is  a  popular  one,  and 
15  211 


LIBRARY    PHILANTHROPY 

rarely  official.  Boards  of  trustees,  of  course,  frequently 
and  properly  put  up  tablets  or  inscriptions  to  the  effect 
that  the  library  building  was  erected  with  funds  given 
by  Andrew  Carnegie,  but  the  donor  has  never  en- 
couraged such  a  practice.  In  fact,  his  connection  with 
the  library  has  usually  begun  and  ended  with  the  sign- 
ing of  an  agreement  by  the  city  authorities  and  the  set- 
ting apart  of  a  sum  from  which  the  bills  for  erecting  the 
structure  are  to  be  paid,  up  to  the  stipulated  amount. 
Mr.  Carnegie  has  certainly  received  ample  advertise- 
ment from  the  public,  but  he  has  done  nothing  to  favor 
it ;  and  it  is  rather  difficult  to  see  how  a  man  could  give 
away  an  amount  equivalent  to  a  dozen  large  fortunes 
without  attracting  some  public  notice. 

The  whole  business  has  been  carried  on  very  system- 
atically. It  was  to  be  expected  that  the  donor  would  be 
overwhelmed  with  demands  for  aid  in  library  construc- 
tion. These  he  has  expected,  and  apparently  welcomed. 
His  intention  seems  to  be  to  give  aid  wherever  proof  is 
forthcoming  that  it  will  be  properly  bestowed.  He 
grants  no  interviews  to  applicants,  but  refers  them  all  to 
his  secretary,  who  receives  and  investigates  all  properly 
authenticated  requests.  At  intervals — not  so  frequent  as 
many  persons  suppose — Mr.  Carnegie  goes  over  the  re- 
quests and  decides  what  shall  be  done  regarding  them. 
Those  who  picture  the  great  library  giver  as  pondering 
by  night  and  day  over  the  locations  of  buildings  or  over 
architects'  plans  or  methods  of  administration  are  far 
afield.  Probably  a  day  or  two  annually  may  sum  up  the 
time  devoted  by  him  personally  to  these  huge  benefac- 
tions, and  it  is  fortunate  for  the  library  world  that  this 
is  so.  Mr.  Carnegie  presses  the  button  that  releases  his 
stream  of  library  millions;  the  trustees  and  librarians 

212 


GIFTS    ALWAYS    NEEDED 

that  are  most  interested  do  the  rest.  The  millionaire 
ironmaster  is  said  to  be  proud  of  his  ability  to  select  and 
use  men;  he  has  certainly  done  so  to  the  best  effect  in 
his  library  benefactions. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  any  public  library  is  in  a  po- 
sition to  announce  that  it  has  no  further  need  of  gifts, 
no  matter  how  generously  it  may  be  treated  in  the  mat- 
ter of  appropriations.  There  are  always  expenses  that 
it  is  not  legitimate  or  expedient  to  pay  from  the  public 
funds  and  that  are  properly  defrayable  from  the  pro- 
ceeds of  donations.  The  New  York  Public  Library,  an 
institution  possessed  of  a  large  private  income  and  re- 
ceiving besides  an  appropriation  of  over  half  a  million 
dollars  yearly  from  the  city,  sends  out  every  year  a 
printed  request  for  gifts  of  money,  which  it  expends  for 
various  purposes,  chiefly  for  the  decoration  of  branch 
libraries,  potted  plants,  and  the  like.  In  addition,  it  has 
begun  the  formation  of  local  committees  of  ladies,  one 
for  each  branch  library,  to  advise  in  all  matters  pertain- 
ing to  the  appearance  of  the  branches,  to  raise  funds,  if 
possible,  and  to  assist  in  spending  them  to  advantage. 
There  is  always  in  every  community  a  large  reservoir  of 
public  spirit  that  may  be  drawn  upon  in  this  way,  and 
that  might  be  wasted  if  advantage  were  not  taken  of  it. 
It  may  be  turned  to  the  advantage  of  the  library  in  some 
such  way  as  this,  and  the  flow  thus  directed,  though  it 
may  be  but  a  trickle,  will  possibly  determine  a  flood  at 
some  later  time.  Nothing  is  so  undesirable  as  a  general 
feeling  in  a  locality  that  private  generosity  is  out  of  place 
when  bestowed  on  any  institution  supported  chiefly  by 
public  taxation.  A  club,  which  is  supported  by  dues 
levied  on  all  the  members,  would  never  think  for  this 
reason  of  refusing  the  gift  of  a  new  house,  or  a  fresh 

213 


I 


LIBRARY    PHILANTHROPY 

stock  of  books  for  its  library,  from  some  wealthy  mem- 
ber, nor  would  it  turn  back  a  loan  exhibition  of  paint- 
ings or  objects  of  historical  interest.  The  same  would 
be  true  of  a  church ;  and  it  should  also  be  true  of  a  mu- 
nicipality. I  recall  no  case,  except  in  connection  with 
some  of  ]\Ir.  Carnegie 's  and  other  similar  offers,  where  a 
town  has  actually  refused  gifts  or  has  officially  an- 
nounced its  reluctance  to  receive  them ;  but  there  is  cer- 
tainly a  widespread  feeling  on  the  part  of  citizens  that 
when  anything  is  supported  from  the  public  purse  pri- 
vate effort  to  aid  it  may  properly  cease. 

This  was  very  strikingly  exemplified  in  New  York 
when  the  various  private  corporations  operating  public 
circulating  libraries  in  certain  boroughs  of  that  city 
united  to  form  the  Circulation  Department  of  the  New 
York  Public  Library. 

These  corporations,  though  receiving  small  subsidies 
from  the  city,  were  supported  very  largely  by  annual 
membership  fees,  voluntary  contributions,  and  the  in- 
come from  endowment  by  bequest  or  gift.  After  their 
consolidation  with  the  Public  Library  the  stated  annual 
dues  were,  of  course,  discontinued,  contributions  by  gift 
fell  to  about  ten  per  cent  of  the  former  amount,  and 
during  the  period  since  consolidation  (1901)  no  addi- 
tions to  the  endowment  fund  have  been  received,  except 
from  bequests  made  prior  to  the  consolidation.  The 
cause  of  this  discontinuance  of  private  aid  is  undoubt- 
edly a  feeling  that  the  assurance  of  a  definite  income 
from  the  public  funds  renders  it  unnecessary. 


I 


CHAPTEE    XVI 

THE  LIBRARY  AS  A  PRODUCER 

In  a  Public  Library  branch  in  the  city  of  New  York 
a  boy  who  had  sought  in  vain  for  the  book  he  wanted 
was  told  that  the  only  remaining  copy  had  worn  out, 
and  that  it  could  not  be  replaced  because  it  was  out  of 
print.  "  Well/*  he  replied,  unabashed,  '*  can't  you 
print  it  again  ^  ''  That  boy  was  ahead  of  the  age,  in 
library  matters ;  but  the  library  may  some  day  overtake 
him.  Indeed,  it  is  hard  to  see  why  a  library  already  pos- 
sessing a  fully  equipped  printing  office  should  not  buy 
the  plates  of  some  standard  work  of  fiction  which  it  is 
obliged  to  replace  at  a  fairly  uniform  annual  rate  and 
strike  off  for  itself  a  supply  sufficient  for  a  few  years, 
sending  the  sheets  to  be  put  into  strong  binding,  pre- 
cisely as  it  now  does  the  sheets  obtained  (when  it  is  able 
to  get  them)  from  the  publisher.  This  is  a  possibility  of 
the  future.  In  the  meantime  some  libraries  are  conduct- 
ing a  fairly  good  publishing  business,  and  many  more  are 
doing  their  own  job  printing;  while  librarians  in  co- 
operation, organized  as  the  Publishing  Board  of  the 
American  Library  Association,  are  issuing  books  of  the 
greatest  value  to  the  work  of  libraries. 

The  publications  most  commonly  issued  by  libraries 
are  periodicals,  variously  named,  but  most  often  called 
bulletins,  and  usually  monthlies.  These  contain  gener- 
ally the  names  of  the  board  of  trustees,  rules  and  regu- 

215 


THE    LIBRARY   AS    A    PRODUCER 

lations,  hours  of  opening,  a  classified  list  of  additions 
made  during  the  month,  lists  of  books  on  special  sub- 
jects, and  sometimes  library  news  of  local,  or  even  of 
general,  interest.  In  addition,  some  libraries  use  their 
bulletins  for  the  publication,  from  time  to  time,  of  man- 
uscript material  in  their  possession  that  may  be  of  inter- 
est to  scholars,  or  even  to  the  general  public — unpub- 
lished correspondence,  diaries,  papers  of  all  kinds,  and 
the  like.  Probably  the  use  of  such  a  publication  as  a 
catalogue  of  current  additions  is  the  most  common  and 
is  most  widely  regarded  as  its  chief  function.  If  lino- 
type composition  is  used,  the  slugs  may  be  saved  and 
used  again  for  a  more  comprehensive  list.  Some  libra- 
ries that  print  their  own  catalogue  cards  make  the  bul- 
letin entries  in  such  shape  that  the  slugs  can  be  used 
at  once  for  the  cards.  In  one  case  at  least,  that  of  the 
New  York  Public  Library,  several  such  bulletins  are 
published.  The  Bulletin  of  the  New  York  Public  Li- 
brary contains  a  monthly  report  of  the  library's  activi- 
ties ;  long  classified  and  annotated  lists  of  some  special 
collections  or  classes  of  books  in  the  library,  a  brief 
list  of  noteworthy  additions  to  the  reference  depart- 
ment, and  acknowledgments  to  donors.  The  Branch 
Library  News,  formerly  the  Monthly  List  of  Additions 
to  the  Circulation  Department,  is  devoted  to  a  broadly 
classified  author  list  of  additions,  with  brief  annota- 
tions,  supplemented  occasionally  by  a  short  list  on  some 
special  subject  and  by  reading-matter  of  various  kinds 
intended  for  branch-users.  The  Bulletin  is  sent  only  to 
subscribers;  the  News  is  distributed  free  at  branch  li- 
braries. The  Municipal  Branch  has  a  bulletin  of  its 
own  and  there  is  also  The  ^taff  News  for  assistants  only. 
Another  common  type  of  library  publication  is  the 
216 


HANDBOOKS 

catalogue,  entire  or  partial — nowadays  more  often  the 
latter.  As  noted  in  the  chapter  on  Cataloguing,  com- 
plete printed  catalogues  are  not  often  issued,  but  partial 
catalogues,  finding  lists,  short  bibliographies,  lists  of 
special  collections,  and  the  like,  are  becoming  more  fre- 
quent. Very  nearly  all  libraries,  large  and  small,  issue 
an  annual  printed  report,  as  noted  in  the  chapter  on  Sta- 
tistics. This  may  be  the  briefest  kind  of  a  tabular  state- 
ment, or  it  may  contain  a  very  large  amount  of  descrip- 
tive text,  often  with  illustrations.  The  readableness  of 
this  depends  not  only  on  the  librarian's  aim  in  preparing 
it,  but  also,  of  course,  on  his  ability  as  a  writer. 

Large  libraries  often  publish  handbooks  or  descrip- 
tive pamphlets,  under  one  name  or  another,  giving  a 
brief  historical  sketch  of  the  institution,  a  description 
of  its  building  or  buildings,  its  rules,  the  organization  of 
its  board  and  of  its  staff,  and  so  on.  These  naturally 
vary  in  contents  and  in  method  of  treatment.  Sometimes 
it  is  thought  best  to  distribute  information  of  this  kind 
over  several  small  pamphlets  instead  of  gathering  it  in 
one  large  one.  Sometimes  the  rules  and  customs  of  the 
library  in  matters  of  detail  are  printed  and  issued  in  the 
same  way  for  distribution  among  the  members  of  the 
staff.  For  the  handbook  or  its  equivalent  a  small  price 
is  usually  charged. 

As  noted  in  the  chapter  on  Reference  Libraries,  a 
very  large  proportion  of  what  may  be  called  the  books 
of  secondary  information  are  compiled  from  sources 
found  in  libraries.  Except  in  a  few  instances,  however, 
librarians  have  not  been  the  compilers  of  these,  nor  have 
the  libraries  themselves  been  their  producers.  There 
seems,  however,  to  be  no  reason  why  a  library  contain- 
ing interesting  material  should  not  proceed  to  utilize  it 

217 


THE    LIBRARY    AS    A    PRODUCER 

in  this  way  instead  of  waiting  for  some  casual  outsider 
to  do  so.  The  occupant  of  a  university  chair  is  expected 
to  spend  much  of  his  time  in  original  research;  and  if 
he  produces  anything  of  value,  the  university  publishes 
it.  In  like  manner,  we  may  see,  in  future,  the  librarian 
of  a  large  library  devoting  some  of  his  time,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  to  compilation  and  authorship,  using  the 
materials  in  his  own  institution,  with  which  he  naturally 
is,  or  ought  to  be,  more  familiar  than  anyone  else.  When 
he  produces  something  of  permanent  value,  the  library 
will  publish  it.  In  this  way  the  public  library  may  re- 
gain something  of  the  regard  for  scholarship  which  it 
has  inevitably  lost  by  giving  its  attention  so  exclusively 
to  popular  administrative  problems. 

Something  of  this  sort  is  occasionally  done  even  now. 
The  publication  of  valuable  manuscript  material  in  li- 
brary magazines  has  already  been  mentioned.  There  is 
also  the  kind  of  work  now  being  done  by  the  Free 
Library  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  which  is  publishing,  in  parts, 
a  complete  description  of  the  operation  of  its  various  de- 
partments, for  the  information  and  assistance  of  librari- 
ans in  other  institutions.  Librarians  themselves  are  fre- 
quently authors;  they  contribute  freely  to  the  technical 
periodical  literature  of  their  profession.  Work  in  bibli- 
ography is  also  usually  by  them,  although  extensive  and 
thorough  work  of  this  sort  is  not  as  common  here  as 
abroad,  and  is  more  commonly  done  in  university  or  spe- 
cial libraries  than  in  the  public  libraries  that  have 
devoted  so  much  of  their  time  to  the  organization  and 
extension  of  popular  service.  Work  in  general  literature 
is  more  apt  to  be  that  of  retired  librarians,  or,  if  done 
during  library  service,  it  is  performed  out  of  library 
hours,  and  is  not  regarded  as  part  of  the  legitimate  task 

218 


LIBRARIANS    AS    AUTHORS 

of  the  librarian.  Such  works  as  Justin  Winsor's  "  Nar- 
rative and  Critical  History,"  Larned's  ''  History  for 
Ready  Reference,"  Poole's  "  Index  "  with  P'letcher's 
continuations,  the  systems  of  classification  of  Dewey  and 
Cutter,  the  **  Library  Reprints  "  of  Dana  and  Kent, 
Koopman's  ''  Mastery  of  Books,"  and  many  others,  are 
testimony  to  the  industry  with  which  librarians  have 
pursued  this  kind  of  work. 

There  is  one  class  of  printing  that  it  will  pay  a  small 
library  to  do — namely,  that  of  stock  stationery,  such  as 
letterheads,  envelopes,  psers'  cards,  pockets,  book  plates, 
and  the  like.  No  com^position  is  needed  for  any  of  these, 
and,  after  the  library  has  paid  to  have  the  proper  elec- 
trotype plate  ma^  all  that  is  needed  is  a  small  hand 
press,  which  may ^e  operated  by  unskilled  labor.  Much 
of  this  work  may  also  be  done  with  the  multigraph 
with  which  it  is  now  possible  to  use  electrotype  plates. 


CHAPTER    XVII 

BINDING   AND   REPAIRING 

The  annual  cost  of  a  thing  that  is  in  continual  use, 
and  that  will  ultimately  be  worn  out  by  such  use  and 
require  replacement,  is  made  up  of  interest,  expense 
of  maintenance  and  repair,  and  the  year's  share  of  a 
fund  for  replacing  the  article  when  worn  out.  This  is 
quite  familiar  in  the  case  of  machinety,  but  it  has  only 
recently  been  applied  to  books,  because  only  in  the  mod- 
ern circulating  library  has  the  book  been  necessarily  re- 
garded as  a  tool  to  be  well  used,  worn  out,  and  replaced. 
When  this  idea  has  impressed  itself  sufficiently  on  the 
mind,  we  realize  the  necessity  of  putting  all  our  discus- 
sions of  the  cost  of  books  into  the  form  of  cost  per  unit 
of  time  or  of  service  rather  than  that  of  initial  outlay 
simply.  The  total  cost  of  a  volume  is  its  initial  cost 
plus  all  outlay  for  mending  and  rebinding  until  it  is 
discarded  as  worn  out.  Its  cost  per  year  may  be  ob- 
tained by  dividing  this  by  the  number  of  years  of  serv- 
ice, and  the  cost  per  issue  by  using  as  the  divisor  the 
total  number  of  issues  during  this  time.  Interest  on  the 
original  outlay  should  strictly  be  added,  but  as  books  are 
usually  bought  from  income  and  are  not  regarded  as  a 
permanent  investment,  this  may  be  omitted.  Evidently, 
with  the  same  initial  outlay  and  the  same  cost  of  repair, 
the  cost  per  year  or  per  issue  may  be  made  less  by  pro- 
longing the  life  of  the  book  or  increasing  the  number  of 

220 


COST   OF   A   BOOK 

issues  possible  before  it  wears  out ;  and  it  will  evidently- 
pay  to  increase  the  initial  outlay  if  by  so  doing  the  life 
of  the  book  is  more  than  proportionately  increased.  To 
know  whether  increased  outlay  will  pay  and,  if  so,  to 
obtain  effective  results  with  it — these  two  things  are  the 
problems  that  the  librarian  must  solve,  so  far  as  binding 
is  concerned,  in  an  active  circulating  library  of  the  mod- 
ern type.  The  problem  of  annual  cost  is  complicated  by 
the  fact  that  to  make  the  book  strong  at  the  outset  will 
often  not  only  prolong  its  life,  but  will  do  away  with 
rebinding  during  that  life. 

Supposing,  for  simplicity's  sake,  that  rebinding  and 
mending  are  eliminated,  making  the  annual  cost  of  the 
book  simply  the  initial  outlay  divided  by  the  number  of 
years  of  its  lif^,  evidently  any  increase  in  first  cost  will 
be  justifiable  that  increases  the  life  proportionately. 
Such  increase  in  first  cost  is  due  to  money  put  into  bet- 
ter paper  and  stronger  binding,  especially  stouter  sewing 
and  stronger  joints.  Such  improvements,  however,  do 
not  lengthen  the  book's  life,  or  do  not  lengthen  it  pro- 
portionately to  what  they  cost,  when  the  inside  of  the 
book  is  short-lived  for  any  reason,  or  when  it  is  excep- 
tionally long-lived.  Thus  the  best  edition  obtainable 
may  be  in  very  bad  paper — so  brittle  or  so  flimsy  that 
the  best  sewing  and  the  most  durable  covers  will  not 
greatly  retard  its  going  to  pieces ;  or  the  short  life  of  the 
interior  may  be  due  not  to  poor  materials,  but  to  excep- 
tionally hard  wear,  or  to  abuses  in  the  handling  of  the 
book.  Its  users  may  be  ignorant  or  careless,  and  the 
leaves  may  be  soon  so  torn  or  soiled  that  it  must  be  with- 
drawn from  circulation,  no  matter  how  stout  the  sewing 
or  how  durable  the  leather.  On  the  other  hand,  the  book 
may  be  one  that  is  to  receive  very  little  wear.     It  may 

221 


BINDING   AND    REPAIRING 

go  out  regularly  but  very  infrequently — perhaps  once  a 
year — and  its  normal  life  may  therefore  be  so  long  that 
a  mere  increase  in  the  durability  of  binding  would  not 
greatly  lengthen  it. 

Between  these  two  extremes  lie  the  cases  in  which 
initial  outlay  for  increased  strength  leads  to  a  propor- 
tionately lengthened  life,  and  is  therefore  economically 
justifiable — namely,  those  where  the  book  is  of  good 
paper  and  is  to  have  hard,  steady,  legitimate  use  from 
readers  who  understand  how  to  handle  it.  The  ideal  in 
each  case  is,  of  course,  to  have  the  book  and  its  binding 
wear  out  together,  so  that  neither  shall  the  former  re- 
quire rebinding  nor  shall  any  remaining  strength  of  the 
latter  be  wasted.  The  perfect  adaptation  of  binding  to 
book,  so  that  the  parts  of  both  shall  wea^  out  like  those 
of  the  "  one-hoss  shay," 

"  All  at  once  and  nothing  first, 
Just  as  bubbles  do  when  they  burst," 

is  the  problem  to  be  solved.  That  it  is  capable  only  of 
approximate  solution,  except  by  accident,  is  evident,  but 
its  statement  at  least  provides  a  star  to  which  the  libra- 
rian may  hitch  his  wagon.  The  best  calculations  may  be 
upset  by  intrusting  the  subject  of  these  calculations  for 
a  brief  period  to  an  inquisitive  infant  or  a  playful 
puppy,  or  by  dropping  it  in  the  mud  or  spilling  ink 
over  it. 

But  supposing  that  the  librarian  is  gifted  with  suffi- 
cient insight  and  foresight  to  determine  exactly  what 
outlay  for  initial  strength  will  pay  in  each  case,  he  must 
then  rely  on  the  binder  to  impart  precisely  the  required 
degree,  and  here  he  meets  another  obstacle  that  has  been 
very  imperfectly  dealt  with.     The  amount  and  kind  of 

222 


THE    BINDER 

usage  to  which  a  book  is  subjected  in  the  modern  public 
library  has  not  been  realized  by  any  binder  until  very  re- 
cently; and  even  now  it  is  understood  by  few.  The 
artistic  side  of  binding  has  been  developed  far  more  than 
what  may  be  called  its  engineering.  Beautiful  bindings 
have  been  many;  strong  commercial  bindings,  in  the 
sense  in  which  we  must  now  speak  of  strength,  are  few. 
Still  less  have  binders  learned  to  grade  the  strength  of 
their  work  so  as  to  adapt  it  to  the  probable  life  of  the 
inside  of  the  book,  as  noted  above.  To  begin  with  the 
publisher,  it  is  to  his  interest  to  issue  his  edition  all  in 
the  same  form,  and  this  form  is  governed  by  the  use  to 
which  the  book  is  to  be  put  by  the  majority  of  purchas- 
ers, who  are  individual  readers,  not  public  libraries. 
The  books  are  thus  put  together  very  lightly.  Even 
where  the  libraries  desire  to  purchase  in  unbound 
sheets  and  have  the  binding  done  to  suit  them,  the  pub- 
lisher is  often  unwilling  to  sell  in  this  form.  There  is 
nothing  for  it,  then,  but  to  buy  in  the  publisher's  cases 
and  strengthen  them  in  some  way ;  or  tear  the  book  apart 
and  rebind  strongly  at  once ;  or  put  it  into  circulation  as 
it  is,  rebinding  when  it  falls  apart.  No  one  of  these 
three  alternatives  is  desirable.  Publishers  often  profess 
their  willingness  to  bind  strongly  a  certain  proportion  of 
their  issues  for  public-library  use,  and  this  is  now  done 
in  an  increasing  number  of  cases,  owing  largely  to  the 
efforts  of  the  Committee  on  Bookbinding  appointed  by 
the  American  Library  Association.  A  very  few  binders 
have  made  an  effort  to  arrange  with  certain  publishers 
to  deliver  sheets  to  them  in  time  to  bind  strongly  before 
publication.  There  is  at  the  present  time,  however,  no 
one  publisher  from  whom  libraries  may  obtain,  in  strong 
binding,  any  of  his  publications  that  they  may  deem  to 

223 


BINDING   AND    REPAIRING 

require  it,  and  no  one  dealer  or  binder  who  is  able  to  fur- 
nish all  current  books  in  this  way.  The  problem  is  evi- 
dently complicated  with  that  of  the  book  trade.  The 
dealer  who  is  to  engage  to  furnish  any  current  publica- 
tion, bound  strongly  from  the  sheets,  on  the  day  of  issue 
must  be  himself  a  binder  competent  to  deal  with  the 
question  or  he  must  have  very  close  relations  with  such 
a  binder.  Either  because  libraries  in  general  have  not 
realized  the  economy  of  strong  binding  or  because  deal- 
ers do  not  understand  the  advantages  to  them  of  being 
the  first  to  take  it  up  in  different  localities,  it  is  still 
difficult  to  obtain  just  what  is  wanted,  promptly  and 
surely. 

The  problem  of  "  strong  binding,"  which,  as  has 
been  said  above,  means  here  the  problem  of  so  fastening 
a  book  together  that  it  will  not  come  apart  under  the 
unusual  stress  of  use  in  a  free  public  library,  is,  of 
course,  one  of  machine  binding.  Libraries  cannot  afford 
to  pay  the  prices  that  must  be  charged  for  good  hand 
work.  The  points  of  special  weakness  are  the  sewing 
and  the  joint  of  the  cover.  When  the  binding  of  a 
library  book  gives  out,  the  stitching  comes  apart,  or  the 
leaves  tear  away  from  the  threads,  or  the  cover-joint 
breaks.  It  is  not  intended  here  to  discuss  the  merits  of 
various  methods  of  sewing  and  jointing,  but  it  is  neces- 
sary to  point  out  that  with  the  kinds  of  paper  in  modern 
use  for  book  work  it  is  impossible  to  adopt  any  one  style 
of  sewing.  The  method  that  would  be  the  best  for  strong 
paper  made  of  linen  rags  would  not  suit  light,  spongy 
paper  of  esparto  grass  or  the  brittle  paper  made  of 
wood  pulp ;  nor,  again,  the  paper  heavily  coated  with  an 
earthy  glaze  for  taking  the  ink  from  the  half-tone  plates. 
The  good  binder,  therefore,  must  make  a  special  study 

224 


STRONG    ORIGINAL    BINDING 

of  papers  in  current  use,  and  must  know  at  a  glance 
what  treatment  is  best  for  each.  Separate  from  the" 
question  of  strong  binding,  but  even  more  necessary  to 
consider  when  the  readability  of  a  book  is  to  be  re- 
garded, is  the  ease  with  which  it  opens,  which  depends 
almost  entirely  on  the  sewing.  A  book  sewed  strongly, 
but  difficult  to  hold  open,  is  hard  to  read,  especially 
when  held  in  one  hand ;  and  the  modern  library,  which 
aims  to  make  reading  easy  for  all,  should  not  put  such 
an  obstacle  as  this  in  the  way  of  its  users.  If  the  paper 
of  a  book  is  of  such  a  nature  that  it  can  be  held  strongly 
together  only  by  making  the  book  hard  to  open,  it  is 
better  in  many  cases — perhaps  in  the  majority — to  let 
considerations  of  strength  go  altogether.  The  library  in 
this  case  is  paying  extra  for  the  comfort  of  its  readers. 
So  far  as  the  i^aterial  of  the  cover  is  concerned,  this 
(which  is  the  first  thing  that  the  ordinary  reader  thinks 
of  when  he  hears Aof  **  binding  *')  is  of  secondary  im- 
portance where  th  fbook  is  to  receive  heavy  wear  and  is 
soon  to  be  worn  o\t  and  replaced.  In  this  case  the 
main  qualities  that  are  to  be  looked  to  are  reasonable 
durability  and  cleanliness — smoothness,  so  that  dirt  will 
not  be  caught  or  collected  and  waterproof  quality  of  a 
degree  sufficient  to  admit  of  moderate  washing.  Heavy 
but  flexible  leather,  such  as  pigskin,  for  the  backs  and 
waterproof  cloth  for  the  sides  fulfill  these  conditions. 
Binding  of  this  kind  may  be  had  for  about  fifty  cents 
for  a  12mo  volume;  or  for  less,  if  full  cloth  be  used, 
with  some  modification  in  the  sewing.  Those  who  can 
afford  it  will  have  the  backs  lettered  in  gilt,  and  the  call 
number  will  be  added  in  the  same  way.  If  necessary, 
however,  the  lettering  may  be  put  on  in  ink  with  a  pen, 
using  India  ink  for  light-colored  bindings  and  ''  white 

225 


BINDING   AND    REPAIRING 

ink,"  so  called,  for  the  dark  ones.  ''  Gold  ink  "  is  ef- 
fective but  not  durable.  Cloth  or  paper  labels,  used  by 
many  libraries,  are  difficult  to  fasten  firmly  and  show 
dirt  plainly. 

A  consideration  that  militates  against  strong  bind- 
ings in  many  libraries,  and  that  will  have  to  be  reckoned 
with  more  and  more  by  binders  in  the  future,  is  the  fact 
that  the  appearance  of  books  strongly  bound  from  the 
sheets  is  apt  to  be  rather  unattractive.  A  study  of  colors 
in  leathers  and  cloth,  and  the  adoption  of  some  simple 
forms  of  decoration,  will  do  away  largely  with  this  ob- 
jection; and  steps  in  this  direction  are  now  being  taken 
by  some  binders.  Objections  of  this  kind  are  not  so 
trivial  as  they  may  seem.  Not  only  is  the  general  ap- 
pearance of  a  library 's  shelves  more  cheerful  and  at- 
tractive when  the  colors  and'  decoratiol?  of  the  bindings 
are  varied  tastefully,  but  especialiy  in  a  children's  room 
is  it  desirable  to  give  a  book  characV :er  to  the  outward 
eye  in  this  way.  Many  librarians  thus  prefer,  especially 
in  the  case  of  books  for  children,/£0  have  the  original 
bindings  strengthened  or  reenforced  in  some  way  rather 
than  to  bind  the  original  sheets  strongly  at  the  risk  of 
the  book's  losing  its  individuality.  This  may  be  done  by 
replacing  the  original  case  after  resewing  or,  in  some 
cases,  by  merely  strengthening  the  joint. 

The  warning  given  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter 
cannot  be  too  strongly  reiterated — namely,  that  whether 
the  time  and  expense  devoted  to  initial  strong  binding  is 
to  be  an  economy  or  a  waste  depends  on  the  skill  and 
judgment  shown  in  selecting  the  books  that  are  to  re- 
ceive such  treatment.  In  the  case  of  replacements,  espe- 
cially of  standard  books  in  constant  demand,  a  list  of 
titles  requiring  strong  initial  binding  should  be  pre- 

226 


STRONG    ORIGINAL    BINDING 

pared  and  the  best  editions  for  the  purpose  should  be 
specified.  Orders  for  replacements  or  duplicates  may 
then  be  compared  and  checked  up  with  this  list  before 
they  are  placed.  With  current  publications  the  task  is 
not  so  eas5%  and  involves  far  more  chance  of  mistake.  It 
is,  however,  safe  to  say  that  popular  fiction,  or  in  gen- 
eral any  book  that  would  require  replacement  or  re- 
binding  if  it  were  not  put  initially  in  strong  binding, 
should  receive  the  latter.  Among  the  exceptions  will  be 
such  books  for  children  as  will  probably  be  needed  in 
the  original  covers  and  most  fiction  duplicates  that  will 
last  as  long  as  the  book's  popularity.  When  twelve 
copies  of  a  novel  are  bought,  for  instance,  the  prob- 
ability is  that  by  the  time  they  have  worn  out  one  or  two 
will  be  sufficient  to  supply  the  demand,  and  only  these 
need  to  be  bound  strongly  at  the  outset.  Cases  where  the 
binding  depends  on  the  quality  of  paper  cannot  now  be 
determined  in  advance  of  publication.  These  could  be 
taken  into  consideration  if  publishers,  in  advance  no- 
tices, would  clearly  state  the  kind  of  paper  to  be  used, 
the  style  and  size  of  type,  width  of  margins,  manner  of 
inserting  illustrations,  and  other  data  that  are  of  special 
value  for  the  librarian's  information. 

What  has  been  said  so  far  applies  wholly  to  the  orig- 
inal binding.  But  '*  binding,"  stated  as  an  item  in 
library  expenses,  generally  refers  to  rebinding,  the 
amount  spent  for  original  binding  being  reckoned  as 
part  of  the  cost  of  the  book.  This  item  of  rebinding  it 
should  be  the  librarian 's  task  to  reduce  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. The  fact  that  a  book  has  to  be  rebound  is  gener- 
ally an  indication  that  it  should  have  been  provided  with 
a  stronger  initial  binding.  If  it  were  possible  to  attain 
the  ideal  of  perfect  adaptation  of  initial  binding  to  use, 
1«  227 


BINDING   AND    REPAIRING 

rebinding  might  be  abolished.  As  this  is  impossible,  it 
must  continue,  but  it  should  be  reduced  to  a  minimum. 
In  many  cases  it  is  cheaper  to  replace  than  to  rebind. 
The  criterion,  as  in  the  case  of  strong  original  binding,  is 
not  the  relative  cost  of  rebinding  and  replacement,  but 
the  cost  per  issue  as  affected  by  one  or  the  other.  Sup- 
pose that  a  book,  after  twenty  issues,  is  in  need  of  re- 
binding,  which  makes  it  good  for  ten  issues  more.  The 
book  is  thus  good  altogether  for  thirty  issues,  and  if  it  is 
replaced  with  a  new  copy  which  is  similarly  treated,  the 
two  have  sixty  issues  between  them.  Now,  three  copies, 
without  rebinding,  would  have  the  same  number  of  is- 
sues; and  if  the  cost  of  a  copy  would  not  be  greater 
than  that  of  the  two  rebindings,  this  plan  would  pay. 
The  numbers  given  above  have  been  chosen  somewhat 
arbitrarily,  and  varying  them  will  alter  the  conclusion.^ 
Thus,  if  a  good  cheap  edition  may  be  had,  replace- 
ment may  be  the  wiser  course  in  a  case  where  it  would 

^  This  may  be  stated  algebraically  as  follows: 
If  A=first  cost  of  book, 

N  ^number  issues  before  rebinding, 
a=cost  of  rebinding, 
n= number  of  issues  after  rebinding, 
then  the  condition  for  substituting  replacement  for  rebinding  is 

(  — —  )>(m)-  IfA:N::a:w  the  two  fractions  will  be  equal,  and 
inequality  will  subsist  in  the  desired  sense  if  the  cost  of  rebinding 
is  increased  or  the  number  of  issues  after  rebinding  be  decreased; 
or  if  (these  remaining  the  same)  the  first  cost  be  decreased  or  the 
corresponding  number  of  issues  be  increased.  In  the  case  of  initial 
strong  binding,  A  is  greatly  increased  but  N  is  also  generally  in- 
creased more  than  proportionately,  which  explains  why  initial 
strong  binding  is  usually  an  economy.  To  those  who  desire  to  use 
this  formula  in  practice,  it  may  be  said  that  while  A  and  a  are  de- 
terminate quantities,  N  and  n  are  averages  ascertained  by  a  series 

228 


I 


REBINDING 

be  better  to  rebind  if  the  only  good  edition  were  an  ex- 
pensive one.  Also,  if  a  form  of  rebinding  is  available 
that  will  make  the  book  good  for  a  number  of  reissues 
far  greater,  proportionately  to  the  cost,  than  the  number 
of  original  issues,  this  may  and  should  determine  the 
course  to  be  pursued. 

Nothing  has  been  said  of  a  second  rebinding  be- 
cause, although  this  is  sometimes  possible,  it  is  rarely 
desirable.  Of  course,  other  considerations,  just  as  in  the 
case  of  original  strong  binding,  may  operate  to  influence 
the  librarian's  conclusion  in  regard  to  rebinding.  Books 
are  discarded  for  other  reasons  than  because  the  bind- 
ings are  worn.  If  a  book,  for  instance,  is  so  soiled  that 
it  will  probably  have  to  be  cast  aside  for  that  reason 
after  two  or  three  more  issues,  rebinding  is  evidently  in- 
advisable, and  the  book  should  be  slightly  repaired,  if 
possible,  or  otherwise  discarded  at  once. 

It  has  been  assumed  that  immediate  replacement  at  a 
fair  price  is  possible — that  is,  that  the  book  is  in  print. 
In  general,  it  does  not  pay  to  include  out-of-print  books 
in  the  actively  circulating  stock.  If  the  book  is  a  valu- 
able copy  for  the  reference  shelves,  or  is  kept  for  **  mu- 
seum "  purposes,  and  is  difficult  or  impossible  to  replace, 
it  may  then,  of  course,  be  necessary  to  spend  compara- 
tively large  sums  in  strengthening,  protecting,  and  pre- 
serving it. 

In  this  discussion  one  other  factor  has  not  yet  been 
taken  into  account — the  time  lost  while  the  book  is  un- 
dergoing rebinding.     Of  course,  if  we  consider  only  the 

of  trials,  the  more  the  better.  Those  to  whom  this  algebraic  dis- 
cussion means  little  may  at  least  understand  from  it  that  the  de- 
termination of  economies  in  binding,  whether  initial  or  rebinding, 
is  a  matter  requiring  both  thought  and  calculation. 

229 


BINDING   AND    REPAIRING 

cost  per  issue  of  the  individual  book,  there  is  no  loss,  no 
matter  how  long  it  lies  idle,  as  the  total  number  of  ulti- 
mate issues  will  be  the  same.  The  loss  appears,  how- 
ever, if  we  consider  the  number  of  copies  necessary  to 
carry  on  the  work  of  the  library.  If  this  number,  we 
will  say,  is  twenty  in  a  given  case,  and  if  five  copies  are 
always  in  the  binder's  hands,  the  actual  number  of 
copies  owned  by  the  library  must  evidently  be  twenty- 
five.  Possibly  ten  per  cent  of •  a  library's  stock  must  be 
rebound  in  the  course  of  the  year,  or  say  6,000  volumes 
in  a  stock  of  60,000.  If  these  are  absent,  on  an  average, 
four  months  each,  the  loss  amounts  to  a  permanent  ab- 
straction of  2,000  of  the  library's  most  needed  books, 
which  must  be  replaced  by  others  if  the  efficiency  of  the 
library  is  to  be  maintained.  If  the  average  life  of  these 
bcoks  is  ten  years,  and  their  cost  during  this  period,  in- 
cluding purchase,  cataloguing,  rebinding,  etc.,  is  $1.50 
each — a  low  estimate — ^the  time  lost  at  the  binder's  is 
costing  the  library  $300  yearly,  the  interest  at  five 
per  cent  of  an  investment  of  $6,000.  If  the  binder 
keeps  the  books  but  one  month  each,  this  loss  is  only 
$75  a  year;  in  other  words,  the  binder's  promptness  is 
saving  the  library  $225  a  year. 

The  more  we  look  into  the  question  the  more  it  ap- 
pears desirable  to  abolish  rebinding  as  far  as  possible 
and  to  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  time  occupied  in  per- 
forming the  work  on  the  necessary  residue. 

The  judgment  required  in  selecting  books  from  the 
stock  for  rebinding  and  discarding  is  very  great.  This 
task  should  be  intrusted  to  an  assistant  of  experience  and, 
as  far  as  possible,  always  to  the  same  person.  Especially 
in  a  branch  system  should  this  work  be  under  compe- 
tent general  supervision,  otherwise  the  librarian  may 

230 


DISCARDING 

find  that  he  is  discarding  fairly  usable  books  from 
one  branch  and  retaining  in  circulation  at  another  vol- 
umes far  more  soiled  or  advanced  in  disintegration. 
Users  of  the  library  who  pass  from  branch  to  branch  will 
be  quick  to  note  and  comment  upon  such  discrepancies. 
Of  course,  the  state  of  a  library's  finances  must  deter- 
mine the  extent  to  which  a  book  shall  be  allowed  to  go  to 
pieces  before  it  is  rebound  or  discarded  and  the  degree 
to  which  it  shall  be  allowed  to  accumulate  dirt  before 
being  adjudged  too  filthy  for  library  use.  There  is  a 
zone  within  which  a  book  may  be  called  * '  worn  out  ' '  or 
''  soiled,"  or  the  reverse,  according  to  circumstances; 
but  no  matter  how  impecunious  a  library  may  be,  it 
cannot  afford  to  circulate  books  that  are  really  dirty  or 
falling  to  pieces.  The  use  of  dirty  books  is  objectionable 
for  other  than  sanitary  reasons;  it  drives  from  the  li- 
brary people  who  love  cleanliness,  and  it  renders  inef- 
fective any  action  taken  by  the  library  toward  improv- 
ing the  care  taken  of  its  stock.  It  is  useless,  for  in- 
stance, to  insist  on  clean  hands  in  a  children's  room,  if 
a  large  proportion  of  the  books  are  so  soiled  that  a  per- 
son with  clean  hands  might  properly  object  to  handling 
them.  So,  also,  it  seems  absurd  to  caution  readers 
against  tearing  out  one  more  piece  from  a  volume  whose 
leaves  are  hanging  in  tatters  or  against  maltreating  a 
binding  that  is  already  hanging  by  a  single  thread. 

Books  not  in  good  condition  may  often  be  mended  in- 
stead of  rebound.  Much  has  been  said  of  how  to  mend ; 
not  enough,  probably,  on  when  to  mend.  In  general, 
mending  is  desirable  only  when  the  book  is  not  to  be  re- 
bound. When  its  initial  binding  is  strong  enough  to  last 
till  the  end,  the  repair  will  naturally  be  limited  to  mend- 
ing tears,  removing  dirt,  or  fastening  in  plates.     When 

231 


BINDING    AND    REPAIRING 

the  book  is  in  too  bad  condition  to  warrant  rebinding, 
but  not  too  bad  to  warrant  repair — a  condition  whose 
determination  requires  delicate  judgment — almost  any- 
thing may  be  done  to  it  that  suits  the  fancy  of  the 
mender,  but  elaborate  work  rarely  pays,  except  with 
*'  museum  "  books.  The  sewing  may  be  repaired,  glue 
may  be  spread  over  the  backs,  joints  may  be  reenforced 
or  replaced,  and  so  on.  Mending  cannot  be  taught  from 
a  book;  to  be  an  expert  mender,  one  must  first  thor- 
oughly understand  the  anatomy  of  the  bound  volume, 
must  be  quick  to  appreciate  whether  any  mending  at  all 
will  pay  in  a  given  case,  and  must  then  be  able  to  know 
what  to  do  to  accomplish  the  desired  result  with  the 
greatest  speed  and  strength.  The  mending  should  be 
intrusted  to  assistants  who  ^how  aptitude  for  it ;  but  the 
person  who  selects  the  books  to  be  mended  and  decides 
what  shall  be  done  to  them  is  not  necessarily  the  one 
who  does  the  actual  mending.  Manual  dexterity  does 
not  always  accompany  a  keen  eye  and  trained  judgment. 
In  the  New  York  Public  Library,  library  books  for 
mending  are  selected  id  each  branch  by  the  same  assist- 
ant and  at  the  same  time  as  those  for  rebinding  and  for 
discarding,  and  the  selection  is  reviewed,  and  sometimes 
modified,  by  the  Supervisor  of  Binding.  An  instructor 
of  mending  is  a  member  of  the  library  staff,  and  spends 
all  her  time  in  going  from  branch  to  branch,  teaching 
the  assistants  the  elements  of  book  anatomy  and  how  to 
apply  them  in  the  simplest  kinds  of  repairing. 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

BRANCHES  AND  STATIONS 

The  need  of  supplementing  the  work  of  a  library  in 
a  large  city  by  subsidiary  agencies  scattered  over  its  ter- 
ritory was  felt  early  in  library  history.  Such  agencies 
are  of  three  general  types — the  branch  library,  the  dis- 
tributing station,  and  the  delivery  station.  The  branch  li- 
brary is  a  complete  library  in  itself,  having  its  separate 
quarters,  often  a  beautiful  and  convenient  building;  its 
own  permanent  stock  of  books,  generally  its  own  cata- 
logues, and  sometimes  its  own  separate  list  of  registered 
borrowers.  The  distributing  station  has  a  stock  of  books, 
but  not  a  permanent  one,  the  books  being  sent  out  from 
a  central  point  and  exchanged  for  others  when  needed. 
The  stock,  in  short,  constitutes  a  traveling  library,  and 
stations  of  this  sort  are  dealt  with  in  detail  in  the  chap- 
ter on  Traveling  Libraries.  A  delivery  station  is  a 
place  where  orders  may  be  left  for  books  to  be  delivered 
later  from  a  central  stock.  Evidently  these  plans  may 
be  combined  in  various  ways.  The  branch  library  may 
serve  as  a  delivery  station  for  the  central  collection  or 
for  the  combined  stock  of  other  branches  (interbranch 
loan) ;  an  emergency  demand  in  a  branch  may  be  met 
by  a  temporary  deposit  of  books,  making  it  a  distrib- 
uting station  so  far  as  these  are  concerned ;  a  distributing 
or  delivery  station  may  have  certain  branch  features, 
such  as  a  small  permanent  collection,  generally  of  refer- 
ence books,  or  a  general  reading  room. 

233 


BRANCHES    AND    STATIONS 

Twenty  years  ago  there  was  considerable  difference 
of  opinion  among  librarians  about  these  three  kinds  of 
distributing  agencies,  and  certain  libraries  adopted  some 
one  of  them  as  preferable,  to  the  exclusion  of  others, 
thus  the  public  libraries  in  Chicago  and  Jersey  City 
developed  large  systems  of  delivery  stations;  the  Free 
Library  of  Philadelphia  established  a  system  of  branches, 
and  so  on.  Other  libraries,  like  those  of  Boston  and 
Pittsburgh,  established  both  branches  and  delivery  sta- 
tions. At  present  the  true  branch  has  come  to  be  re- 
garded as  preferable,  except  in  special  cases.  Delivery 
stations  are  used  only  as  adjuncts  and  where  the  circu- 
lation would  not  warrant  the  expense  of  a  branch.  Even 
here  deposit  stations,  or  traveling  libraries,  are  now  gen- 
erally used.  That  the  public  prefers  branch  libraries 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  This  may  be  seen  in  cases  where 
they  are  combined  with  delivery  stations,  as  they  are 
wherever  orders  may  be  left  at  a  branch  for  books  from 
the  central  library  or  from  other  branches.  In  such 
cases  the  use  of  the  branch  collection  greatly  exceeds 
that  of  the  other  collections  through  the  branch.  For 
instance,  in  the  New  York  Public  Library,  a  branch  cir- 
culating a  thousand  books  a  day  from  its  own  shelves 
may  have  perhaps  ten  daily  calls  for  books  in  other 
branches.  In  other  words,  its  use  as  a  branch  is  100 
times  as  great  as  its  delivery-station  use.  The  discrep- 
ancy appears  even  greater  if  we  compare  the  demand 
with  the  number  of  books  available  in  the  two  cases. 
The  forty  branches  of  the  New  York  Public  Library  con- 
tained in  1909  about  600,000  books.  If  we  suppose  the 
branch  cited  above  to  contain  25,000  volumes,  the  daily 
branch  circulation  was  four  per  cent,  whereas  the  de- 
livery circulation  was  less  than  zh  of  1  per  cent. 

234 


I 


BRANCHES   AND    STATIONS 

This  preference  of  the  reading  public  for  books  on 
the  shelves  was  stated  analogically  by  a  New  York  jour- 
nalist, who  remarked  that  a  hungry  man  *  *  would  rather 
have  cold  beef  now  than  chicken  to-morrow."  It  must 
be  confessed,  however,  that  in  this  case  the  delivery  cir- 
culation is  of  higher  quality  than  the  other,  representing 
in  a  greater  proportion  of  cases  the  satisfaction  of  a  defi- 
nite desire;  and  doubtless  the  delivery  station  will  find 
its  future  place  as  a  substitute  or  adjunct  agency  of  dis- 
tribution. 

In  some  cities  systems  of  branch  libraries,  instead  of 
being  planned  as  aids  to  the  work  of  a  central  library, 
have  arisen  where  no  such  library  exists — branches  with- 
out a  parent  stem.  Such  was  the  case  in  New  York  and 
in  Brooklyn.  In  some  instances  branches  serve  regions 
so  rural,  or  so  far  distant  from  the  municipal  center, 
that  they  take  on  the  appearance  and  functions  almost 
of  independent  local  libraries  rather  than  of  adjuncts  to 
the  work  of  the  main  institution.  Methods  of  adminis- 
tration in  such  a  system  of  libraries  will  obviously  differ 
according  to  the  degree  of  centralization.  Most  admin- 
istrators will  agree  that  each  branch  should  be  allowed 
a  degree  of  independence,  but  no  two  would  probably 
draw  the  line  in  the  same  place.  At  one  extreme  would 
be  the  perfectly  centralized  system  where  the  headwork 
is  all  done  at  headquarters  and  the  branch  librarians  are 
only  assistants  in  charge,  having  no  liberty  of  action 
and  performing  the  details  of  their  work  by  prescribed 
rule.  Such  branches  would  perform  separately  only 
such  functions  as  were  positively  necessary  to  their  use- 
fulness as  libraries ;  they  would  have,  for  instance,  sepa- 
rate catalogues,  but  no  separate  accession  records  or  reg- 
istration books.     All  administrative  functions  would  be 

236 


CENTRALIZATION    OR    INDEPENDENCE? 

performed  at  the  central  office,  matters  of  policy  would 
be  arranged  there  down  to  the  smallest  detail,  and  the 
personnel  of  the  staff  would  be  decided  upon  there  with- 
out consulting  the  local  assistant  in  charge. 

At  the  other  extreme  we  should  have  the  practically 
independent  branch,  operated  as  a  separate  library,  ex-, 
cept  for  a  common  board  of  trustees  and  executive  offi- 
cer. Its  librarian  would  appoint  her  own  force,  and  all 
administrative  functions  would  be  performed  in  the 
branch,  which  might  differ  from  all  the  other  branches  in 
its  charging  system,  its  classification,  its  system  of  regis- 
tration, and  so  on. 

These  ideal  extremes  are  cited  for  purposes  of  illus- 
tration only ;  probably  neither  of  them  exists.  The  ordi- 
nary system  of  branches  is  centralized  in  some  respects 
and  independent  in  others.  Most  systems  agree  in  cen- 
tralizing the  purchase  of  books,  staff  training,  cata- 
loguing (at  least  the  headwork),  and  in  prescribing 
uniformity  in  charging  systems,  book  numbers,  and  such 
rules  as  affect  the  use  of  the  books  by  the  public.  They 
generally  allow  independence  to  some  extent  in  book 
selection,  in  branch  discipline,  and  the  selection  of  assist- 
ants, and  in  various  points  of  local  policy.  The 
branch  librarian  is  the  local  adviser  of  the  librarian 
in  chief,  in  matters  affecting  her  locality.  Points  on 
which  there  is  a  general  difference  of  usage,  some  libra- 
rians preferring  centralization  and  uniformity,  while 
others  would  allow  independence  and  the  exercise  of 
local  discretion,  are  accessioning,  the  mechanical  copy- 
ing of  catalogue  cards,  registration,  and  the  issuing  of 
borrowers'  cards. 

The  differences  between  the  work  of  a  system  of 
branch  libraries  and  that  of  a  single  independent  library; 

237 


BRANCHES    AND    STATIONS 

may  perhaps  be  best  treated  by  viewing  them  suc- 
cessively from  three  standpoints — that  of  the  individual 
assistant,  that  of  the  central  administrator,  and  that  of 
the  public. 

From  the  assistant 's  point  of  view  the  differences  are 
absent  or  slight  in  the  lower  grades  and  increase  as  she 
rises  in  the  staff.  To  one  of  the  lower  assistants  it  makes 
very  little  difference  whether  the  rules  under  which  she 
works  are  laid  down  by  the  head  of  her  immediate  li- 
brary or  are  merely  transmitted  to  her,  through  that 
head,  from  a  central  headquarters,  more  or  less  re- 
mote. To  the  head  librarian,  on  the  other  hand,  it  makes 
a  great  deal  of  difference  whether  she  is  free  to  admin- 
ister her  library  as  she  thinks  best,  under  her  board  of 
trustees,  or  whether  she  is  forced  to  conform  to  rules 
and  customs  in  common  with  a  number  of  other  similar 
libraries.  If  her  library  is  a  branch,  her  charging  sys- 
tem, her  rules  regarding  the  public  use  of  books,  her 
registration  system,  and  all  the  other  administrative 
features  that  are  to  be  uniform  in  all  the  branches,  are 
settled  upon  for  her  and  cannot  be  changed ;  whereas,  if 
she  is  at  the  head  of  a  single  independent  institution,  she 
may,  theoretically  at  least,  change  or  modify  all  these  to 
suit  herself.  Practically,  however,  the  difference  is  not 
so  great  as  it  seems.  On  assuming  charge  of  an  inde- 
pendent library  its  head  often  finds  systems  of  classifica- 
tion, registration,  charging,  cataloguing,  and  so  on,  that 
do  not  accord  with  her  ideas ;  yet  in  most  cases  the  labor 
of  alteration  would  be  so  great  that  she  is  quite  as  much 
bound  to  retain  them  as  if  they  were  prescribed  by  a 
central  office.  Then,  again,  the  head  of  an  independent 
library  is  responsibly  to  the  board  of  trustees;  in  a 
branch,  the  responsibility  is  merely  transferred  to  a  sin- 

238 


SOME    COMPARISONS 

gle  officer.  The  branch  librarian's  books  and  supplies 
must  be  obtained  by  recommendation  or  requisition 
through  the  central  office,  and  repairs  to  her  building 
must  be  made  in  the  same  way.  In  all  this  there  is  apt 
to  be  more  delay  than  where  it  may  be  done  more  di- 
rectly. The  testimony  of  those  who  have  served  both  as 
independent  and  as  branch  librarians,  and  especially  of 
those  whose  libraries,  formerly  independent,  have  become 
parts  of  a  branch  system  of  consolidation,  indicates  that 
this  loss  of  freedom,  of  individual  responsibility  and  ini- 
tiative is  considerable ;  that  it  is  felt  as  a  drawback,  and 
that  the  efficiency  of  the  library  is  lessened  thereby. 
Yet,  in  spite  of  this,  such  librarians  will  usually  add  that 
the  compensating  advantages  are  great  enough  to  make 
up  for  this  disadvantage — perhaps  far  to  outweigh  it. 
Such  advantages  are  the  fact  that  the  library  may  place 
at  the  disposal  of  its  users  a  very  much  larger  stock  of 
books,  that  the  librarian  has  the  cooperation  of  many 
sister  institutions  and  the  advice  and  aid  of  experts  in 
many  special  lines  of  library  work,  that  much  of  the 
mechanical  work  is  assumed  by  the  central  office,  leaving 
the  branches  freer  to  study  and  consult  the  needs  of 
their  users — in  short,  they  embrace  all  the  benefits  that 
arise  from  cooperation,  but  that  are  rarely  realized  in 
their  entirety  unless  the  cooperation  is  systematized  and 
under  central  direction  and  control. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  central  administrator, 
the  differences  between  operating  a  single  library  and 
a  group  of  branches  are  even  greater.  His  catalogue  and 
shelf  list,  for  instance,  must  bear,  besides  everything 
that  would  be  necessary  in  the  similar  records  of  a  sin- 
gle library,  some  indication  of  the  branches  in  which  the 
catalogued  books  are  to  be  found.    His  accounts  must  be 

239 


BRANCHES    AND    STATIONS 

kept  in  such  a  way  that  the  cost  of  operating  each 
branch  library  may  be  separately  ascertained,  and  to  this 
end  his  bills  must  be  so  marked  that  it  may  be  possible 
to  divide  the  totals  properly  among  the  branches  con- 
cerned. Take,  for  instance,  the  complications  introduced 
into  the  one  department  of  book  purchase.  For  an  inde- 
pendent library,  the  purchase  of  a  given  title  having 
been  duly  authorized,  it  is  necessary  simply  to  order  it, 
retaining  a  memorandum  of  the  order;  to  compare  the 
book,  when  received,  with  this  memorandum  and  with  the 
bill,  marking  them  both  to  indicate  receipt,  and  then  to 
deliver  the  book  to  be  catalogued,  prepared,  and  shelved. 
In  a  branch  system  the  office  must  know  before  ordering 
the  book  for  what  branch  it  is  intended;  and  on  its  re- 
ceipt it  is  not  sufficient  simply  to  check  the  correspond- 
ing item  in  the  bill.  The  item  must  be  marked  with  the 
name  of  the  branch,  so  that  the  bill  clerk  may  charge 
each  branch  with  the  fraction  of  the  total  that  may  be- 
long to  it.  The  book  itself  must  be  marked  with  the 
name  of  the  branch,  and  also,  if  it  is  to  be  accessioned  at 
the  branch,  with  certain  data  not  shown  by  the  book 
itself,  as  the  source  and  price.  After  cataloguing,  the 
book  must  be  sent,  with  others,  to  the  branch  for  which 
it  is  intended,  and  some  evidence  of  its  receipt  must  be 
returned  to  the  central  office  and  filed  there.  If  a  book 
is  lost,  it  is  difficult  to  fix  the  responsibility  between  the 
central  office,  the  express  messenger,  and  the  receiving 
branch  without  a  very  elaborate  system  of  dated  re- 
ceipts, which  may  or  may  not  be  thought  worth  while. 
But  in  any  case,  the  fact  that  a  group  of  branches 
instead  of  a  separate  library  is  to  be  supplied  multiplies 
the  work  at  the  book-order  office  very  greatly;  and 
there  is  a  similar  multiplication,  due  to  the  same  causes, 

240 


SOME    COMPARISONS 

in  almost  every  department  of  central-office  work. 
Again,  it  becomes  necessary  for  the  head  of  the  system 
to  determine,  in  the  case  of  every  rule  or  regulation  that 
he  may  desire  to  make,  of  every  custom  that  he  may 
wish  to  alter,  and  of  every  innovation  or  improvement 
that  he  may  consider  necessary,  whether  this  is  of  the 
kind  that  should  apply  uniformly  throughout  the  sys- 
tem or  whether  it  may  be  allowed  to  apply  to  certain 
branches  and  not  to  others.  If  the  latter,  he  must  decide 
to  which  it  should  apply ;  if  the  former,  he  must  inquire 
whether  its  inapplicability  at  some  branches  may  not 
make  its  adoption  generally  undesirable.  This  informa- 
tion may  generally  be  best  obtained  by  conference  with 
the  heads  of  branches,  at  such  a  meeting  as  that  de- 
scribed in  the  chapter  on  the  Staff. 

Lastly,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  public — that  is, 
of  those  who  use  the  library — the  differences  between  a 
branch  and  an  independent  library  are  almost  all  in 
favor  of  the  former.  The  user  has  all  the  privileges  that 
he  could  have  with  the  latter  and  others  that  he  would 
not  be  likely  to  receive.  He  has  access  to  the  stock  not 
of  one  library  alone,  but  to  the  combined  collections  of 
the  whole  system.  Larger  resources  in  every  way  are  at 
his  disposal.  The  library  is  much  more  apt  to  buy  a 
book  that  he  desires,  if  it  is  to  be  thereby  made  available 
to  the  population  of  a  large  region  than  if  it  is  to  be 
added  simply  to  a  moderate  collection  for  the  use  of  a 
small  number  of  people.  Those  who  wish  traveling  li- 
braries or  deposit  collections  can  obtain  them  more 
readily  and  in  greater  numbers.  In  fact,  the  user  finds 
at  his  disposal  many  of  the  resources  and  advantages  of 
a  large  library,  with  the  accessibility,  coziness,  and  in- 
formality of  a  small  one. 

241 


BRANCHES    AND    STATIONS 

From  another  point  of  view  altogether,  if  there  is 
question  of  concentrating  all  the  available  expenditures 
upon  one  large  central  library  instead  of  devoting  a 
part  of  it  to  branches,  there  can  no  longer  be  any  doubt 
of  the  better  course  to  pursue,  if  it  is  desired  to  benefit 
the  largest  possible  number  of  persons.  Scholars  who 
must  study  the  entire  literature  of  their  subject,  wher- 
ever it  may  be,  will  travel  long  distances  to  see  a  particu- 
lar book,  even  taking  journeys  to  foreign  countries  for 
the  purpose.  For  such,  branch  collections  are  neither 
necessary  nor  desirable.  The  ordinary  reader,  however, 
the  man  of  fairly  good  education  who  reads  for  enter- 
tainment or  for  profit,  will  rarely  go  very  far  to  get  his 
book.  His  wife  and  his  children  will  not  go  even  as  far 
as  he  will.  To  get  and  retain  a  hold  upon  such  read- 
ers as  this  the  collection  must  be  brought  closer  to  them, 
and  this  means  that  branch  libraries  must  be  placed  at 
intervals  throughout  the  city. 

We  may  now  take  up  some  of  the  special  problems 
of  branch  systems.  In  the  first  place,  is  there  any  rule 
governing  the  arrangement  of  branches  in  a  city — their 
number  in  proportion  to  population,  their  distance  apart, 
etc.?  Such  arrangement  depends  not  on  one,  but  on 
many  considerations.  In  many  cases  certain  points  have 
been  foreordained  as  branch  locations,  as  from  the  loca- 
tion in  such  a  spot  of  a  previously  independent  library 
that  has  been  taken  in  as  a  branch.  Two  or  three  badly 
fixed  points  of  this  kind  may  throw  a  whole  branch  sys- 
tem *  *  out  of  kilter, '  *  and  yet  the  best  policy  may  dictate 
their  retention.  In  general,  the  number  of  branches 
should  be  roughly  proportional  to  population,  and  yet, 
where  population  is  much  congested,  spacing  by  this  rule 
alone  may  bring  branches  too  close  together,  and  it  may 

242 


ARRANGEMENT    OF    BRANCHES 

be  better  to  increase  the  capacity  of  a  single  branch 
tlian  to  multiply  the  number.  The  number  of  branches 
must  also  be  roughly  proportional  to  extent  of  territory ; 
yet  in  sparsely  settled  parts  of  the  community  to  fol- 
low this  rule  alone  would  result  in  wasting  the  re- 
sources of  a  branch  on  too  small  a  number  of  users. 
Here  it  would  be  better  to  care  for  the  needs  of  the  resi- 
dents by  means  of  deposit  collections,  judiciously  placed. 
The  character  of  the  locality  must  always  have  much 
influence  in  determining  the  location  of  a  branch.  A 
branch  should  always  be  located  in  the  center  of  a  group 
of  users  rather  than  on  its  edge.  Sometimes  the  disposi- 
tion of  such  a  group  may  be  determined  beforehand, 
sometimes  not.  Thus  it  is  certainly  bad  policy  to  place 
a  branch  on  the  edge  of  an  unpopulated  region,  as  a 
sheet  of  water,  a  large  park,  or,  generally  speaking,  a 
purely  business  district.  It  has  been  thought  that  busi- 
ness districts,  to  which  large  numbers  of  persons  resort 
daily  either  as  buyers  or  as  sellers,  form  the  best  loca- 
tions for  branch  libraries;  but  this  has  not  generally 
proved  to  be  the  case.  The  persons  who  resort  to  such 
districts  do  so  with  a  definite  purpose  in  mind,  and 
rarely  have  the  desire  or  the  time  to  visit  a  library.  On 
the  other  hand,  libraries  in  residence  districts  are  always 
largely  used.  A  branch  library  in  New  York,  estab- 
lished in  the  busiest  part  of  the  shopping  district,  on 
Sixth  Avenue,  where  hundreds  of  thousands  of  persons 
passed  the  door  daily,  had  a  small  circulation.  Moved 
west,  on  Twenty-third  Street,  still  in  a  business  district, 
but  a  little  out  of  the  rush,  its  circulation  improved,  and 
when  it  was  moved  again,  farther  west,  to  a  residence 
district,  where  not  one  tenth  as  many  persons  passed  the 
door,  the  circulation  rose  again  perceptibly.  Again,  a 
17  243 


BRANCHES    AND    STATIONS 

down-town  library  past  whose  door  factory  workers  surge 
twice  a  day  has  never  been  able  to  secure  a  large  circu- 
lation, and,  as  far  as  has  been  ascertained,  reaches  few 
of  these  frequent  passers-by ;  while  half  a  mile  east,  in 
a  tenement-house  region,  another  branch  is  well-nigh 
swamped  by  its  crowd  of  users.  It  is  possible  to  reach 
factory  hands  in  their  places  of  work,  but  only  through 
traveling  libraries  and  with  the  aid  of  their  employers. 

Again,  the  attitude  of  the  residents  of  a  district 
toward  the  library,  or  toward  reading  in  general,  may 
be  characteristic,  and  may  determine  the  location  or 
nonlocation  of  a  branch  among  them.  In  general,  racial 
characteristics  are  important;  the  Irish,  for  instance,  do 
not  care  to  read  as  much  as  Germans  do.  It  is  difficult 
to  induce  the  Latin  races,  even  those  who  are  readers,  to 
use  a  public  library,  while  the  Teutonic  races  seek  out 
the  library  for  themselves.  The  attitude  of  religious 
teachers  may  be  important.  In  regions  where  the  inhab- 
itants rely  much  upon  the  advice  of  their  clergy,  a  prej- 
udice against  the  public  library  existing  in  the  minds  of 
the  clergy  may  practically  do  away  with  the  usefulness 
of  a  branch  in  the  locality. 

Still  again,  most  large  cities,  in  the  process  of  growth, 
have  overtaken  and  swallowed  up  smaller  centers,  which 
still  maintain  for  years,  if  not  permanently,  some  of  the 
characteristics  of  separate  communities — a  distinctive 
street  system,  perhaps;  certain  old  landmarks,  possibly 
post  offices  of  their  own,  or  railway  stations,  and  above 
all  a  local  pride  that  is  stronger  than  any  other  influence 
in  keeping  up  the  atmosphere  of  separateness.  Such  lo- 
cal centers  are  of  benefit  rather  than  otherwise  in  a  large 
city,  for  their  existence  fosters  a  healthy  local  pride, 
and  this  the  presence  of  a  library  helps  to  maintain, 

244 


LOCAL  CENTERS 

while,  in  turn,  it  gives  the  people  interest  in  the  library 
and  aids  in  making  it  useful.  Such  centers  in  New 
York  for  instance,  are  Harlem,  Yorkville,  Greenwich 
Village,  and,  more  remote,  Tremont,  Woodlawn,  and 
Kingsbridge ;  in  Brooklyn,  Bay  Ridge,  Bushwick, 
Brownsville,  and  Flatbush;  in  Philadelphia,  Frankford, 
Germantown,  and  Chestnut  Hill.  All  such  places  are 
promising  locations  for  branch  libraries,  which  may  ap- 
propriately be  given  the  names  of  these  old  centers.  Be- 
sides these,  there  are  other  localities,  which,  although  not 
old  foci  of  population,  are  recognized  as  set  apart  in 
some  way  or  other,  as  by  topography,  residential  char- 
acteristics, etc.,  and  have  usually  been  given  some  popu- 
lar local  name.  These,  too,  are  often  indicated  as  sites 
for  branch  libraries.  Local  demand  should,  of  course, 
receive  attention;  but  it  is  often  misleading.  A  local 
movement  for  the  establishment  of  a  branch  library  may 
gain  great  headway  and  make  much  impression  in  a  lo- 
cality where  local  feeling  is  strong  and  population  small ; 
while  in  a  densely  populated  district  whose  inhabitants 
are  largely  transients,  with  no  traditions,  the  desire  for 
a  library  may  not  crystallize  so  rapidly,  although  the 
need  may  be  greater.  I  have  known  a  branch  library, 
established  in  a  district  where  it  had  not  been  asked  for, 
and  where  there  was  apparently  no  local  interest  in  it, 
to  develop  at  once  a  circulation  of  30,000  a  month,  while 
in  a  semirural  locality  the  inhabitants  were  clamoring 
loudly  for  a  building  and  pointing  with  pride  to  a  de- 
posit station  circulating  300  monthly  as  an  evidence  of 
their  needs  and  abilities. 

Some  of  the  other  special  problems  of  branch-library 
administration  have  already  been  touched  upon  in  the 
course  of  the  present  chapter.    One  or  two  more  require 

245 


BRANCHES    AND    STATIONS 

brief  mention.  Is  it  desirable,  for  instance,  to  allow  the 
same  person  to  use  more  than  one  branch  at  a  time? 
This  question  may  be  answered  in  several  ways,  of  which 
the  chief  are  as  follows:  (1)  There  may  be  no  restric- 
tion ;  ( 2 )  each  user  may  be  restricted  to  one  branch,  or 
(3)  each  user  may  be  allowed  to  use  the  branches  indis- 
criminately, provided  the  total  number  of  books  that  he 
holds  at  one  time  be  not  larger  than  that  which  he 
would  be  permitted  to  take  from  a  single  branch. 

The  first  plan  is  the  simplest  and  easiest,  but  the  re- 
sult is  that  those  within  reach  of  two  or  more  branches 
may  hold  twice  or  thrice  as  many  books  at  once  as  those 
who  can  conveniently  reach  only  one.  The  number  of 
the  former,  may  not,  however,  exceed  a  few  per  cent  of 
the  total  users,  and  many  libraries  regard  the  injustice 
arising  from  such  absence  of  restriction  as  a  lesser  evil 
than  the  labor  and  time  consumed  in  restricting  each 
user  to  one  library.  Some  libraries  announce  openly 
that  each  citizen  is  allowed  to  hold  cards  in  as  many 
branches  as  he  chooses,  while  others  say  nothing  about 
the  matter,  but  make  no  effort  to  detect  or  prevent  such 
multiple  card-holding. 

The  second  plan,  that  of  strict  limitation  to  one 
branch  at  a  time,  requires  some  sort  of  machinery  to 
detect  violation  of  the  rule,  although  some  libraries  rely 
on  the  card-holder  ^s  personal  statement,  and  content 
themselves  with  asking  each  applicant  for  library  privi- 
leges whether  he  has  had  a  borrower's  card  at  another 
branch,  and,  if  so,  requiring  him  to  present  a  formal 
request  for  transfer.  If  the  card-holder's  word  be  not 
regarded  as  sufficient,  there  must  evidently  be  some  place 
in  which  the  names  of  users  of  all  branches  must  be  filed 
alphabetically,  and  each  application  must  be  compared 

246 


CENTRAL    REGISTRATION 

with  this  file  before  it  is  granted.  If  all  applications  are 
made,  and  all  cards  issued,  by  the  central  library,  such  a 
file  exists  there  as  a  matter  of  course.  A  user  bent  on 
deceiving  the  library  may,  of  course,  do  so  in  this  case 
by  giving  a  false  name,  unless  a  strict  guaranty  system 
is  adhered  to. 

The  third  plan  is  the  most  logical  of  all ;  but  it  al- 
most requires  a  central  registration  with  central  card 
issue.  Each  card  is  then  good  at  whatever  branch  it  is 
presented,  and  no  one  person  can  hold  more  than  one 
card,  or  draw  by  means  of  it  more  than  the  allowed 
number  of  books,  whatever  their  source.  For  small 
branch  systems  this  involves  no  special  trouble;  but  for 
large  ones  the  central  registration  system  involves  some 
difficulties,  especially  with  regard  to  the  sending  out  of 
notices  to  delinquents.  Either  all  branch  notices  must  go 
out  from  the  central  office,  which  involves  delay,  as  the 
evidence  of  delinquency  is  necessarily  on  file  at  the 
branch,  or  else  each  branch  must  keep  a  duplicate  ad- 
dress file.  Most  of  the  advantages  of  this  third  plan, 
however,  may  be  gained  without  a  central  registration  by 
retaining  the  branch  issue  of  cards,  but  requiring  each 
branch  to  honor  the  cards  of  all  other  branches.  This 
means  that  delinquencies  must  be  reported  to  the  issuing 
branch,  which  has  the  delinquent's  address,  or  that  a 
special  address  file  shall  be  kept  at  each  branch  for  the 
users  of  other  branches  whose  cards  have  been  honored. 

This  matter  of  delinquency,  rather  than  the  desir- 
ability of  limiting  the  issue  of  books,  is,  after  all,  the 
chief  reason  for  objecting  to  the  holding  of  cards  at 
more  than  one  branch.  Under  this  plan  there  is  noth- 
ing to  prevent  a  user's  forfeiting  the  privileges  of  the 
library  by  debt  or  by  nonreturn  or  maltreatment  of 

247 


BRANCHES    AND    STATIONS 

books  at  a  great  number  of  branches  successively,  and 
this  sometimes  occurs.  If  it  is  to  be  prevented,  a  union 
black  list  must  be  kept  at  each  branch.  If  this  is  to  in- 
clude the  names  of  all  those  who  owe  fines,  however 
small,  it  becomes  unwieldy  and  practically  impossible  to 
use.  Such  a  list  is  practically  limited  to  the  names  of 
notable  delinquents,  which  means  that  the  lesser  sinners 
go  scot-free  and  are  allowed  to  move  about  from  branch 
to  branch  as  they  like. 

The  number  and  character  of  union  catalogues  is  an- 
other problem  of  branch  systems  that  admits  of  several 
solutions.  Each  branch  needs  its  own  card  catalogue 
and  its  own  shelf  list,  the  former  for  the  use  of  its  read- 
ers and  the  latter  for  inventory.  The  central  office 
needs  a  union  catalogue  and  a  union  shelf  list,  both  of 
which  must  bear  record  of  the  particular  branches  in 
which  each  book  is  contained.  In  addition,  the  shelf  list 
may  also  indicate  the  number  of  copies  in  each  branch. 
These  data  may  be  entered  by  means  of  numerals  or  ab- 
breviations indicating  the  branches,  which  may  be  writ- 
ten on  the  author  cards  in  the  union  catalogue  and  on 
the  shelf-list  cards,  or  opposite  each  entry  on  a  shelf-list 
sheet.  The  indication  of  the  number  of  copies  may  be 
by  means  of  a  superior  numeral  attached  to  the  branch 
abbreviation.  On  the  card  devised  by  Miss  Theresa 
Hitchler  for  the  union  shelf  list  of  the  Brooklyn  Public 
Library  the  back  of  the  card  is  divided  into  squares, 
each  of  which  represents  a  branch,  and  the  number  of 
copies  therein  is  indicated  by  their  accession  numbers 
(see  illustration).  As  the  number  of  copies  is  shown  by 
the  branch  shelf  lists  and  is  easily  ascertained  there- 
from when  needed,  it  is  not  absolutely  necessary  to  show 
it  on  the  union  list. 

248 


BRANCH   CATALOGUES 

Accession  records  may  be  kept  at  the  branches  sepa- 
rately, or  in  separate  branch  books  at  the  central  library, 


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or  in  one  union  list  at  the  central  library.    The  last  plan 
is  the  simplest  in  some  ways  and  avoids  work  when  there 

249 


BRANCHES    AND    STATIONS 

is  to  be  much  transferring  of  books  among  branches,  but 
it  is  also  desirable  to  have  the  record  in  the  branch 
where  the  books  are  kept.  Choice  of  method  will  de- 
pend largely  on  whether  centralization  or  branch  inde- 
pendence is  favored  in  the  particular  library  in  question. 

The  same  thing  will  determine  also  the  place  w^here 
the  cataloguing  is  done.  Complete  centralization  of  the 
work  necessitates  a  very  large  force,  but  comparatively 
few  are  required  to  keep  up  the  necessary  union  lists, 
classify  new  books,  and  so  mark  them  that  they  may  be 
properly  accessioned  and  catalogued  at  the  branches. 
Such  branch  cataloguing  may  be  done  at  odd  moments, 
and  its  practice  promotes  familiarity  with  the  books. 

One  of  the  greatest  advantages  of  a  sj^stem  of 
branches  is  lost  unless  there  is  some  method  by  which 
users  may  make  use  of  other  branches — that  is,  may  bor- 
row from  the  union  stock  as  a  whole.  This  necessitates  a 
plan  of  some  sort  for  interbranch  loans.  If  every  book 
likely  to  be  in  demand  in  this  way  can  be  transferred  to 
the  central  library  or  duplicated  therein,  this  reduces  to 
a  system  for  sending  to  the  central  library  for  books; 
but  in  a  large,  well-stocked  branch  system,  especially 
where  there  has  been  specialization  in  purchase  accord- 
ing to  the  needs  of  localities,  there  will  always  be  books 
in  branches  that  are  not  contained  in  the  central  library. 
A  good  interbranch  loan  system  requires  a  union  cata- 
logue, an  assistant^  in  charge  of  the  system,  who  has  im- 
mediate access  to  this  catalogue  and  may  communicate 
with  all  branches  by  telephone,  and  a  messenger  who 
visits  all  branches  daily.  An  inquiry  at  a  branch  for  a 
book  not  contained  in  that  branch  is  referred  at  once  to 
the  central  catalogue.  If  it  is  not  in  the  library,  the 
inquirer  is  so  informed  and  a  note  is  made  for  possible 

250 


INTERBRANCH   LOANS 

purchase.  If  it  is,  a  reserve  card  is  filed  for  it.  If  the 
book  is  not  available  at  the  central  library,  but  is  con- 
tained in  one  or  more  branches,  the  messenger  as  he  goes 
his  rounds  takes  with  him  a  memorandum  card,  in  a 
package  of  other  cards,  each  of  which  bears  the  names  of 
branches  containing  the  book.  The  first  branch  where 
the  book  is  on  the  shelves  charges  it  to  the  inquiring 
branch  and  gives  it  to  the  messenger  for  delivery.  If 
the  book  is  out  at  all  branches,  a  reserve  card  is  filed  at 
the  last  branch  visited.  Thus  the  book  reaches  the  per- 
son who  wants  it,  as  soon  as  may  be. 

The  branch  system  has  developed  so  rapidly  and  in- 
dividual branches  have  assumed  so  many  of  the  features 
of  independent  libraries  that  users  of  such  branches 
sometimes  forget  their  limitations.  It  may  happen  that 
a  person,  accustomed  to  use  a  well-equipped  central 
library  in  a  small  city,  goes  to  a  larger  city  where  the 
central  building  is  far  away  and  there  is  a  convenient 
branch.  In  such  a  case  it  is  not  infrequent  to  hear  the 
branch  library  unfavorably  compared  with  the  institu- 
tion formerly  used.  Such  comparisons  are  obviously 
most  unfair.  In  the  first  place,  the  book  stock  in  a 
branch  is  and  should  be  limited.  It  is  not  a  place  for 
unlimited  book  storage;  it  should  contain  a  small,  live, 
usable  collection,  and  transfer  all  else  to  the  central 
stock.  Its  reference  collection  must  necessarily  be  small 
and  adapted  to  the  use  of  the  inquirer  after  every-day 
items  of  knowledge  rather  than  to  the  student  and  inves- 
tigator. It  will  contain  few,  if  any,  Government  docu- 
ments ;  very  limited  collections  in  foreign  literatures,  un- 
less there  is  a  foreign  colony  in  the  immediate  vicinity ; 
practically  no  books  on  medicine,  law,  or  technical  sub- 
jects like  the  higher  mathematics;  no  very  large  or  ex- 

251 


BRANCHES    AND    STATIONS. 

pensive  books,  such  as  costly  art  works.  A  city  cannot 
and  should  not  duplicate  its  central  collection  at  a  dozen 
or  more  points,  and  it  is  unreasonable  to  ask  that  it 
should  go  any  further  toward  such  duplication  than  may 
be  done  in  a  good  usable  collection  of  books  for  the  ordi- 
nary local  reader. 


CHAPTEK    XIX 

STATISTICS,   REPORTS,  ETC. 

No  business  can  be  properly  carried  on  without  a  sys- 
tem of  accounts.  These  may  involve  only  money  re- 
ceived and  expended,  but  they  may  and  should  extend 
much  further.  In  a  mercantile  business  they  should  be 
such  that  the  proprietor  may  know  whether  he  has  made 
or  lost  money  on  a  particular  consignment  of  goods,  or 
whether  a  particular  lot  has  deteriorated  in  the  ware- 
house before  being  disposed  of.  The  manufacturer 
should  be  able  to  tell  whether  a  given  lot  of  raw  material 
worked  up  into  finished  articles  that  are  above  or  below 
the  average  in  appearance,  facility  of  operation,  or  wear. 
The  collection  and  tabulation  of  such  data  as  these  have 
come  to  be  regarded  as  indispensable  by  shrewd  business 
men;  and  large  corporations  do  not  hesitate  to  spend 
considerable  sums  in  employing  a  force  of  experts  and 
clerks  especially  to  gather  data  of  this  kind  and  to  tell 
what  they  mean.  On  the  information  thus  obtained  is 
based  the  whole  conduct  of  the  business.  It  is  found 
that  material  from  a  certain  source  gives  uniformly  poor 
results ;  this  source  is  cut  off,  though  offering  an  oppor- 
tunity to  buy  cheaply.  A  certain  line  of  goods  is  found 
not  to  pay,  or  not  to  pay  as  well  as  another  line  that 
might  be  produced  with  the  same  machinery ;  processes 
are  at  once  modified  or  the  plant  is  set  at  work  in  a  dif- 
ferent direction. 

253 


STATISTICS,    REPORTS,    ETC. 

Information  of  this  kind  is  gathered  with  either  or 
both  of  two  different  purposes  in  view — to  satisfy  the 
legitimate  curiosity  of  the  person  managing  the  business, 
or  of  some  one  who  has  a  right  to  know  how  it  is  going 
on,  whether  it  is  succeeding  or  failing  and  just  what  it 
is  accomplishing;  and,  secondly,  to  furnish  a  basis  for 
improvements  or  changes,  to  indicate  weak  points  and 
points  of  strength,  so  that  the  business  may  be  reen- 
forced  along  the  former  and  extended  along  the  latter. 

The  information  is  handled  somewhat  differently, 
according  to  the  use  that  is  to  be  made  of  it.  If 
the  former  of  the  two  uses,  just  specified,  it  is  thrown 
into  the  form  of  a  tabular  report,  so  that  the  person  or 
persons  to  whom  the  report  is  submitted  may  be  able  to 
see  with  the  least  trouble  just  what  is  to  be  made  plain 
with  regard  to  the  conduct  of  the  business.  If  the  lat- 
ter, a  more  detailed  and  analytical  study  is  made  of  the 
data,  which  are  compared  and  tested  in  all  possible 
ways  to  reveal  unsuspected  facts.  When  something  is 
thus  brought  to  light  that  seems  to  call  for  further  in- 
vestigation, additional  data  are  collected ;  and  processes, 
sources,  machines,  and  operators  are  changed  or  shifted 
to  ascertain  the  result  of  such  action  on  the  data  that  are 
being  studied.  In  other  words,  the  various  operations  of 
the  business,  whatever  it  may  be,  are  treated  precisely 
like  the  experimental  part  of  a  scientific  investigation, 
and  the  data  are  discussed  in  a  manner  corresponding  to 
the  treatment  of  the  measurements  or  other  numerical 
data  obtained  in  such  an  investigation. 

The  administration  of  various  institutions,  all  of 
which  are  trying  to  achieve  satisfactory  results  through 
methods  carried  out  by  men,  with  or  without  the  aid  of 
machinery,  is  one  and  the  same,  in  essentials.     Success 

254 


PURPOSES    OF    STATISTICS 

and  failure  in  all,  whether  their  object  is  to  make  money 
for  the  proprietors  or  to  perform  a  service  for  the  pub- 
lic, are  dependent  on  very  similar  factors.  And  if  in 
large  industrial  concerns  it  has  been  found  not  only 
profitable  but  vital  to  collect  data  of  all  sorts  and  to  dis- 
cuss and  act  upon  them,  then  we  may  be  sure  that  the 
administration  of  a  public  library  may  profitably  do  the 
same  thing  in  its  own  sphere  of  activity. 

Libraries  are  accustomed  to  collect  and  publish  va- 
ried statistics — more  or  less  extensive  and  more  or  less 
detailed,  according  to  the  interests  or  habits  of  mind  of 
the  librarian  or  his  board  of  trustees;  but  these  are  in 
general  more  in  view  of  the  first  purpose  specified  above 
than  for  the  second.  They  are,  as  signified  by  the  name 
of  the  publication  in  which  they  usually  appear,  '*  re- 
ports ' ' — the  placing  before  the  trustees,  before  the  pub- 
lic, whom  they  represent,  and  before  the  municipal  au- 
thorities to  whom  they  are  immediately  responsible,  of 
certain  data,  to  assure  them  that  the  funds  of  the  library 
have  been  wisely  administered  and  that  its  users  have 
obtained  from  the  expenditure  of  those  funds  as  much 
and  as  effective  service  as  they  have  a  right  to  expect. 

Of  the  second  kind  of  use  mentioned  above,  there  is 
probably  not  nearly  so  much  as  there  ought  to  be.  It  is 
difficult  to  ascertain  exactly  how  much,  because  investi- 
gations of  this  kind  are  intended  to  guide  the  adminis- 
trator, and  not  to  be  published.  Occasionally  some  out- 
side body,  representing  citizens  in  another  or  a  related 
capacity,  undertakes  a  little  investigation  and  compari- 
son of  this  kind  on  its  own  account;  and  then  the  public 
is  apt  to  hear  of  it.  But  how  much  intelligent  study  of 
library  statistics  goes  on  in  librarians*  offices,  and  how 
much  modification  or  improvement  in  library  methods 

255 


STATISTICS,    REPOETS,    ETC. 

and  material  results  from  such  study,  is  something  that 
we  shall  never  know. 

It  appears  to  be  certain,  however,  that  large  numbers 
of  librarians,  especially  in  small  institutions  or  those  of 
moderate  size,  look  upon  their  statistics  in  the  light  of  a 
necessary  evil.  They  must  be  collected,  because  some- 
thing of  the  kind  is  expected  in  the  annual  report,  but 
they  should  be  minimized,  and,  once  in  print,  they 
should  be  dismissed  from  the  mind.  This  attitude  re- 
minds one  of  the  rural  workman  who  used  a  dull  saw  be- 
cause the  amount  of  work  before  him  gave  him  no  time 
to  stop  and  sharpen  it;  the  labor  of  collecting  and  tabu- 
lating statistics  wearies  the  average  librarian  to  such  an 
extent  that  he  is  unwilling  to  use  his  results  in  a  way 
that  might  lighten  his  entire  labor  or  direct  it  into  chan- 
nels of  greater  usefulness.  Some  of  the  simpler  ways  in 
which  statistics  may  thus  be  treated  will  be  indicated 
farther  along  in  this  chapter. 

The  data  usually  collected  by  libraries  fall  under 
three  heads — financial  statistics,  or  data  regarding  the 
receipt  and  expenditure  of  money;  library  statistics 
proper,  or  data  about  the  books,  their  use  and  care ;  and 
statistics  of  property,  relating  to  buildings  and  their 
contents. 

Financial  statistics  are  simply  monetary  accounts, 
and  do  not  differ  essentially  in  libraries  from  the  book- 
keeping of  any  concern  of  equal  size.  A  competent  book- 
keeper, in  other  words,  will  learn  as  quickly  how  to  keep 
the  accounts  of  a  library  as  he  would  how  to  keep  those  of 
any  business  with  which  he  was  at  first  somewhat  unfa- 
miliar. Of  course,  however,  the  financial  statistics  touch 
upon  those  of  the  other  classes  in  so  many  points  that, 
especially  where  all  three  kinds  are  to  be  systematically 

256 


FINANCIAL 

studied,  the  bookkeeper  will  scon  adapt  his  methods  in 
such  a  way  as  to  make  such  comparisons  simpler.  Thus, 
if  the  librarian  wishes  to  know  the  proportion  of  lines 
to  circulation  in  each  of  a  dozen  branch  libraries,  he 
must  ascertain  the  receipts  from  this  source  and  the 
number  of  books  loaned,  for  the  same  period,  in  this  par- 
ticular library.  He  may  also  wish  to  know  the  cost  of 
binding  per  book  bound,  or  as  compared  with  the  total 
stock,  or  with  the  circulation,  either  of  his  whole  system 
or  of  certain  branch  libraries  whose  work  he  desires  to 
compare. 

To  illustrate  the  possibilities  along  this  line,  it  may 
be  stated  that  the  finance  department  of  a  large  city  pos- 
sessing a  system  of  branch  libraries  asked  this  question, 
'*  Is  it  not  possible  to  standardize  the  appropriations  for 
branch  libraries  so  that,  at  least  within  certain  limits,  it 
may  be  possible  to  calculate  at  once,  from  certain  statis- 
tics relating  to  a  library,  what  its  annual  maintenance 
ought  to  cost  ?  "  If  a  formula  for  this  calculation  could 
be  constructed,  it  would  doubtless  simplify  greatly  the 
work  of  preparing  estimates.  An  attempt  has  been  oc- 
casionally made  to  do  this,  but  the  data  taken  into  ac- 
count have  been  too  few.  Probably  the  most  elementary 
is  the  proviso  contained  in  the  Carnegie  agreements,  that 
the  minimum  annual  appropriation  for  the  maintenance 
of  a  library  shall  be  ten  per  cent  of  the  sum  expended 
in  building  and  equipment.  This  has  generally  proved 
insufficient,  and  in  some  cases  fifteen  per  cent  has  been 
substituted  for  ten  in  the  contract.  Here  it  has  been 
assumed  that  the  cost  of  maintenance  is  roughly  propor- 
tional to  the  cost  of  the  building.  Some  of  the  other 
data  that  should  be  taken  into  account  are  the  number 
of  books,  their  circulation,  the  size  of  the  building,  its 

257 


STATISTICS,    REPORTS,    ETC. 

age,  the  hours  of  opening,  and  so  on.  Such  data  may  be 
stated  numerically.  Others  that  cannot  be  so  stated  di- 
rectly, and  yet  enter  into  the  problem,  are  the  character 
of  the  population  (whether  careful  of  the  books  or  not), 
the  capability  of  the  library  force,  the  standard  of  con- 
dition of  the  books,  etc.^ 

Of  the  library  statistics  proper — ^those  relating  to 
the  books  themselves — the  most  important  are  those 
involving  the  safety  and  state  of  preservation  of  the 
books  and,  next  in  order,  those  relating  to  the  amount 
and  kind  of  use  that  has  been  made  of  them.  The  safety 
of  the  books,  the  fact  that  they  are  still  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  library,  instead  of  being  lost  or  stolen,  is 
ascertained  by  means  of  an  inventory  taken  at  stated 
periods  in  a  way  described  in  another  chapter.  The  fig- 
ures thus  ascertained — the  number  of  volumes  actually 
en  the  shelves,  with  a  comparison  of  the  figures  with 
these  of  the  year  preceding,  showing  the  number  added, 
the  number  discarded,  and  the  number  missing  during 
the  year — may  be  considered  as  the  fundamental  data  of 
library  statistics.  The  facts  that  some  libraries  omit 
this  periodical  inventory  altogether,  and  that  others 
perform  the  task  in  a  somewhat  perfunctory  man- 
ner, are  surely  surprising.    The  books  under  a  librari- 

iThe  problem  of  constructing  a  formula  embodying  these 
data  resembles  that  of  representing  algebraically  a  linear 
function  of  several  variables,  having  given  the  values  of  the 
variables  and  that  of  the  function  in  several  instances.  This 
is  a  well-known  problem  in  the  Method  of  Least  Squares  and 
is  solved  by  the  method  of  Indeterminate  Coefficients.  A 
number  of  instances  equal  to  the  number  of  the  variables  is 
required.  This  matter  has  recently  received  extended  dis- 
cussion in  the  American  Library  Institute,  in  which  there 
was  much  dissent  from  the  principles  laid  down  above.  The 
large  amount  of  work  required  has  hitherto  prevented  a 
rigid  test  of  their  validity. 

258 


LIBRARY    STATISTICS    PROPER 

an's  charge  are  net  his  own  property;  they  are  not  even 
the  personal  property  of  the  trustees.  Often  they  are 
not  even  the  property  of  the  board  as  a  body,  but  of  the 
municipality.  They  are  held  in  trust,  and  surely  the  first 
duty  of  their  custodian,  whatever  else  he  may  or  may 
not  do,  is  to  ascertain  and  report  whether  they  are  all 
safe,  and,  if  not,  how  many  are  missing  and  from  what 
causes. 

Closely  connected  with  these  data,  and  of  scarcely 
less  importance,  are  data  regarding  the  condition  of  the 
books.  The  public  that  reads  in  a  library  report  of  the 
tens  or  hundreds  of  thousands  of  books  on  the  shelves, 
surely  ought  to  be  informed  whether  these  are  as  new  or 
in  the  last  stages  of  dilapidation — soiled,  worn,  and  torn. 
Yet  library  reports  seldom  give  sufficient  information  on 
this  subject.  Of  course,  the  precise  condition  of  each  vol- 
ume cannot  be  described,  but  at  least  the  librarian 
should  state  how  many  of  his  books  were  discarded  be- 
cause soiled  or  worn  out  during  the  last  year,  how  many 
are  likely  to  be  so  discarded  during  the  current  year,  how 
many  were  rebound,  how  many  are  in  need  of  rebinding, 
and  how  many  were  mended.  Some  general  idea  should 
also  be  given  of  the  standard  used  in  discarding — 
whether  the  library  is  obliged  to  keep  in  circulation 
bocks  that  are  badly  soiled  and  torn,  or  whether  it  can 
and  does  discard  volumes  for  a  very  slight  drop  below 
the  normal  in  these  respects. 

In  second  order  of  importance  I  should  place  those 
statistics  that  probably  the  majority  of  librarians  would 
put  first — namely,  statistics  of  the  use  of  books.  This 
includes  a  statement  of  the  total  number  of  times  that 
the  books  have  been  used,  either  at  home  (''  home  use  ") 
or  in  the  library  ('*  hall  use  "),  given  generally  both  by 
18  259 


I 


STATISTICS,    REPORTS,    ETC. 

time  (usually  by  months),  and  again  by  classes.  Both 
these  uses  were  formerly  stated  together  as  "  circula- 
tion ' ' ;  but  this  term  is  now  properly  limited  to  home  use. 
The  unit  here  is  the  combination  of  a  book  and  its  user — 
a  change  in  the  combination  means  a  separate  count.  In 
the  statistics  gathered  by  inventory  the  book  is  the  unit, 
no  account  at  all  being  made  of  the  user.  In  another  class 
of  statistics,  which  should  still  be  grouped  under  those  re- 
lating to  ''  use  of  books,"  the  user  is  the  unit,  and  no 
account  at  all  is  made  of  the  book.  Under  this  head 
come  the  number  of  users,  "  live  "  or  otherwise,  with 
the  increase  for  the  year,  sometimes  given  by  months 
and  sometimes  classified  by  occupations  or  by  locality; 
attendance  at  reading  rooms  or  at  lectures,  and  use  of 
reference  books  where  it  is  difficult  or  inadvisable  to  re- 
port each  separate  use  and  each  user's  visit,  is  recorded 
as  a  unit. 

In  reporting  the  use  of  books,  it  has  been  suggested 
that  not  the  single  use,  of  varying  length,  but  retention 
for  a  specified  time,  say  one  day,  should  be  regarded  as 
the  unit.  Thus  a  use  lasting  four  weeks  would  count 
fourteen  times  as  much  as  one  lasting  only  two  days. 
This  is  difficult,  and  has  been  attempted  only  experi- 
mentally for  short  periods.  It  gives  greater  weight  to 
the  books  that  require  a  longer  time  to  read,  which  gen- 
erally does  greater  justice  to  the  use  of  nonfiction,  but 
not  necessarily  so.  For  instance,  one  reader  might  well 
retain  a  novel  four  weeks,  dipping  into  it  at  intervals, 
while  another  might  keep  out  a  work  on  mechanics  only 
one  day,  having  in  that  time  read  thoroughly  a  single 
chapter  on  a  subject  on  which  he  required  information. 

In  reporting  by  classes,  the  classification  adopted  by 
the  library  for  its  shelves  is  not  always  followed,  nor 

260 


PROPERTY    STATISTICS 

should  it  be.  The  published  report  is  for  the  informa- 
tion of  the  public,  and  it  may  be  much  more  intelligible 
if  classes  are  combined  and  subdivided  in  reporting. 
For  instance,  several  classes  may  be  reported  together  as 
Science,  or  some  one  class,  such  as  Literature,  may  be 
subdivided.  Fiction  is  usually  reported  separately,  and 
Poetry  may  be  so  reported.  All  books  circulated  among 
children,  at  least  when  they  are  contained  in  children's 
rooms,  are  now  usually  reported  separately,  of  whatever 
class  they  may  be.  Some  class  may  be  minutely  subdi- 
vided for  temporary  collection  of  statistics  thereon. 
Thus  statistics  of  music  scores  circulated  may  be  col- 
lected and  reported  on  for  a  given  year,  books  in  foreign 
languages  may  be  reported  separately,  or  some  such  class 
as  Science  may  be  subdivided  into  Astronomy,  Physics, 
Zoology,  Botany,  etc.,  for  report  during  a  specific  pe- 
riod. An  easy  classification  for  permanent  report  and 
comparison,  with  temporary  reports  on  special  classes 
and  subdivisions,  probably  serves  to  inform  and  interest 
th€  public  in  the  best  possible  way. 

The  third  class  of  statistics  is  generally  a  stranger  to 
library  reports,  and  it  is  probably  not  insisted  upon  by 
boards  of  trustees  as  much  as  it  should  be.  Every 
library  should  have  an  official  list,  verified  at  intervals 
by  inventory,  of  all  its  property  in  the  way  of  buildings 
and  their  contents — furniture,  floor  coverings,  pictures, 
etc.  It  is  even  more  necessary  to  inventory  library  sup- 
plies, since  it  is  much  easier  to  remove  ink,  paper,  pen- 
cils, or  paste  without  attracting  notice  than  it  would  be 
to  take  a  table  or  a  chair.  Yet  probably  few  libraries 
take  regular  stock  of  any  of  these  things,  large  or  small. 
Like  the  books,  they  are  municipal  or  corporate  prop- 
erty, of  which  the  librarian  is  the  responsible  custo- 

261 


STATISTICS,    REPORTS,    ETC. 

dian;  and  he  should  leave  nothing  undone  to  ascertain 
for  himself,  and  to  demonstrate  to  others,  how  faithfully 
he  is  keeping  his  trust. 

It  should  not  be  forgotten,  either  by  those  who  col- 
lect and  report  these  statistics,  or  by  those  who  read  them 
or  use  them,  that  they  are  of  various  degrees  of  exact- 
ness, and  that  these  that  are  nearest  to  perfect  accuracy 
do  not  attain  it.  In  any  kind  of  scientific  measurement 
the  limits  of  probable  error  are  always  mentioned  to 
give  an  idea  of  the  degree  of  accuracy.  The  less  the 
probable  error,  the  greater  the  accuracy.  It  is  never 
stated  that  there  can  be  no  error  and  that  the  accuracy 
is  exact;  this  would  be  simply  ridiculous.  The  same 
holds  good  in  library  statistics.  In  the  average  report 
nothing  at  all  is  said  of  accuracy ;  the  reader  is  left  to 
conclude  that  all  the  data  are  exact,  or  at  least  that 
there  is  no  difference  in  their  degree  of  exactness.  This, 
as  has  been  said  above,  is  by  no  means  the  case. 

Probably  there  is  the  least  chance  of  error  in  data 
that  are  obtained  by  counting  tangible  objects — books 
on  the  shelves  or  ready  for  the  bindery,  cards  in  the  cir- 
culation tray,  readers  in  a  room.  There  may,  however,  be 
errors  in  mere  counting;  there  are  almost  certain  to  be 
such  where  the  number  of  objects  counted  is  large. 
Enumeration  becomes  wearisome,  and  the  counter  makes 
a  mistake,  so  that  such  counting  should  always  be  tested 
by  repetition,  which  is  often  laborious  or  impossible.  In 
some  cases,  also,  the  objects  counted  are  not  those  to  be 
really  enumerated,  but  cnly  their  representatives.  Thus 
when  the  circulation  is  ascertained  by  means  of  count- 
ing the  cards  in  the  tray,  each  card  represents  a  book, 
and  if  through  some  mistake  the  number  of  cards  in  the 
tray  is  not  equal  to  the  number  of  books  loaned  on  the 

262 


COMPARABILITY    OF    DATA 

day  in  question,  no  degree  of  accuracy  in  counting  the 
cards  will  give  the  actual  circulation.  Again,  it  is  easy 
or  difficult  to  enumerate  objects  as  they  are  at  rest  or  in 
motion.  To  count  500  cards  in  a  tray  is  comparatively 
simple;  to  count  and  classify  a  hundred  persons  in  a 
reading  room,  when  they  are  continually  entering  or 
leaving  the  room,  may  be  well-nigh  impossible.  Still 
more  difficult  is  it  to  note  and  record  every  use  of  a  ref- 
erence book,  and  most  libraries  have  given  up  trying 
to  do  this,  believing  that  the  inaccuracy'  of  such  a  count 
would  make  the  statistics  valueless.  Reference  use  of 
books,  however,  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  parts  of  a 
library 's  work,  and  it  is  inadvisable  not  to  record  and 
report  it  in  some  way.  Probably  the  simplest  and  best 
is  to  count  users,  disregarding  each  separate  use.  The 
figure  thus  obtained  is  of  the  same  degree  of  accuracy  as 
the  count  of  reading-room  attendance,  although  neither 
is  as  high  as  that  of  books  on  the  shelves  or  of  volumes 
circulated.  Still  more  disconcerting  to  the  student  of 
library  statistics  are  those  whose  meaning  is  uncertain. 
Thus  ''  cards  now  in  use  "  or  *'  live  readers  "  may 
mean  almost  anything,  in  the  absence  of  exact  definition 
or  explanation.  The  method  of  distinguishing  between 
cards  in  use  and  not  in  use  or  between  *'  live  "  and 
**  dead  "  readers  should  always  be  stated. 

Anyone  who  has  attempted  to  compare  the  statistics 
of  different  libraries,  in  an  effort  to  arrive  at  some  idea 
of  the  relative  amounts  of  their  work,  has  found  his 
task  difficult  almost  to  the  point  of  impossibility  by  rea- 
son of  this  vagueness  and  variability  that  runs  through 
them  all.  Some  items  that  he  desires  to  compare  are  to- 
tally absent  in  certain  reports;  others  are  reported  in 
such  different  ways  that  they  are  either  not  comparable 

263 


i 


STATISTICS,    REPORTS,    ETC. 

or  become  so  only  after  a  process  like  the  reduction  of 
English  to  metric  measures.  This  lack  of  comparability 
has  led  to  efforts,  more  or  less  sporadic,  during  ten  years 
past  to  induce  libraries  to  report  the  same  items  in  the 
same  way.  So  far,  this  has  met  with  little  success.  Cer- 
tain of  the  stronger  state  library  commissions  have  the 
matter  in  their  own  hands,  so  far  as  libraries  in  their 
own  states  are  concerned.  They  announce,  as  is  done, 
for  instance,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  that  in  order 
to  receive  the  annual  state  appropriation  a  report  must 
be  rendered  to  the  proper  authorities  in  prescribed  form. 
If  every  state  had  its  commission,  and  if  these  commis- 
sions could  agree  on  a  standard  form  of  statistical  re- 
port, the  problem  would  be  solved,  so  far  as  American 
public  libraries  are  concerned.  But  many  states  have 
no  commissions,  and  some  of  these  have  only  nominal 
authority  and  no  way  of  enforcing  it.  Even  those 
whose  agreement  would  effect  something  have  made  no 
agreement.  A  national  library  commission,  with  power 
to  give  a  small  subsidy  to  all  libraries  complying  with 
certain  conditions,  could  bring  about  a  reform;  for  it 
is  astonishing  what  a  librarian  will  do  to  secure  an  addi- 
tion of  a  few  dollars  to  his  library's  income.  Even 
action  by  the  Library  of  Congress,  in  the  way  of  recog- 
nizing, in  the  distribution  of  catalogue  cards  or  other- 
wise, only  those  libraries  complying  with  specified  con- 
ditions, might  bring  about  the  desired  result.  All  this, 
however,  would  require  special  legislation  that  is  very 
unlikely  to  be  obtained,  and  might  even  be  adjudged 
unconstitutional.  There  appears  to  be  nothing  left, 
therefore,  but  moral  suasion,  and  this  the  American  Li- 
brary Association  has  attempted  to  exert.  Its  Commit- 
tee on  Library  Administration  in  1906  formulated  a 

264 


THE  QUESTIONNAIRE 

scheme  and  directions  for  taking  and  reporting  statis- 
tics, but  few  libraries  paid  any  attention  to  it  and  it 
was  forgotten  until  1914,  when  the  matter  was  again 
taken  up  and  a  simple  form  was  agreed  upon  which 
has  been  accepted  by  a  large  number  of  libraries  and 
printed  as  a  supplementary  page  in  their  reports.  The 
results  are  gathered  in  the  annual  proceedings. 

The  fact  is  that  our  libraries  are  still  individualistic. 
Few  have  grasped  the  idea  that  uniformity  or  united 
action  is  desirable.  Libraries  evidently  publish  statis- 
tics solely  for  the  information  of  their  own  trustees  and 
their  own  public.  They  simply  do  not  care  whether 
their  statistics  are  or  are  not  comparable  with 
those  of  other  libraries.  The  result  is  that  those  who 
are  studying  library  problems  in  a  way  necessitating  the 
comparative  use  of  statistics  are  obliged  more  and  more 
to  resort  to  the  qiiestioiinaire — the  printed  or  mimeo- 
graphed circular  form,  with  its  series  of  questions,  per- 
haps thirty  to  fifty  in  number,  which  their  busy  brother 
and  sister  librarians  are  requested  to  answer.  The  very 
difficulty  of  giving  any  answer  at  all  to  many  of  these 
questions  is  an  indication  of  the  great  variation  in  the 
kind  of  statistics  kept  and  in  the  methods  of  recording 
them.  Were  the  keeping  of  statistics  standardized,  a 
considerable  percentage  of  the  questions  asked  in  this 
way  might  be  omitted,  except  by  those  economical  que- 
rists who  prefer  to  have  their  labor  performed  by  some 
one  else.  To  expect  a  hard-working  librarian  to  sit 
down  and  answer  such  questions  as  **  What  is  the  popu- 
lation of  your  city?  ''  (an  actual  query  widely  circu- 
lated only  a  few  months  ago)  is  preposterous.  Such 
questions  as  **  What  is  your  total  circulation?  '*  and 
**  How  many  branches  have  you?  "  may  also  be  an- 

265 


STATISTICS,    REPORTS,    ETC. 

swered  from  the  reports  of  all  libraries,  and  deserve  al- 
most as  earnest  protest  as  the  one  first  quoted.  Of 
course,  there  will  always  remain  questions  on  special  sub- 
jects which  cannot  be  answered  from  printed  reports,  no 
matter  how  standardized,  and  which  are  intended  to  be 
used  in  a  way  that  will  give  valuable  aid  to  all  librari- 
ans. It  would  be  a  great  pity  for  such  queries  to  be 
generally  disregarded,  but  the  originators  of  careless 
and  trivial  questionnaires  are  doing  their  best  to  bring 
this  about.  Even  now  some  librarians  are  consigning 
questions  to  the  wastebasket  as  a  matter  of  general  pol- 
icy, without  examination ;  and  communications  that  con- 
tain questions  of  the  same  grade  as  those  quoted  above 
should  undoubtedly  be  so  treated,  no  matter  what  course 
is  pursued  with  others. 

What  should  be  included  in  the  printed  annual 
report  that  is  now  issued  by  all  libraries  of  any 
size?  If  the  library  is  under  direct  municipal  con- 
trol, this  is,  in  form,  a  report  to  the  municipal  au- 
thorities from  the  board  of  trustees,  showing  how  the 
library  appropriation  has  been  spent  and  what  the  li- 
brary has  to  show  for  it.  The  activities  of  the  library 
during  the  year  are  set  forth  both  by  statistical  tables 
and  by  textual  exposition,  sometimes  with  illustrations. 
If  the  trustees  are  not  directly  responsible  to  the  munici- 
pal authorities,  as  where  the  connection  is  merely  by 
means  of  a  contract,  the  form  of  the  report  is  usually 
that  of  a  communication  from  the  librarian  to  his  board. 
Even  in  the  former  case,  this  report  of  the  librarian 
usually  constitutes  the  major  part  of  the  document,  that 
of  the  board  to  the  city  being  often  short  and  perfunc- 
tory— sometimes  only  a  brief  letter  of  transmittal.  Re- 
ports of  heads  of  departments,  librarians  of  branch  li- 

266 


LIBRARY   REPORTS 

braries,  etc.,  are  often  included,  being  sometimes  given 
word  for  word,  with  signatures,  and  sometimes  incor- 
porated in  the  text  of  the  librarian's  report,  with  or 
without  acknowledgment  of  their  source. 

The  wade  limit  of  variation  in  the  statistical  tables, 
their  subject  matter  and  arrangement,  has  already  been 
noted.  The  variation  in  the  text  of  the  reports  is  as 
great,  and  even  more  striking  to  the  average  reader,  who 
usually  does  not  care  to  examine  the  tables  at  all.  There 
would  seem  to  be  at  least  three  types :  ( 1 )  the  perfunc- 
tory presentation  of  the  library's  work  simply  in  compli- 
ance with  law  or  custom  and  without  effort  to  make  it 
interesting  to  anybody  at  all;  (2)  presentation  with  the 
intention  of  making  the  library's  work  interesting  to 
other  librarians,  without  paying  any  attention  to  the 
general  public;  (3)  presentation  in  a  way  to  interest  the 
general  reader. 

It  is  reports  of  the  first  type  that  have  given  rise  to 
the  general  opinion  among  librarians  that  library  re- 
ports are  deadly  dull  productions,  to  be  carefully  filed 
after  a  brief  glance  at  the  figures  showing  circulation 
for  the  year,  volumes  added,  and  perhaps  a  few  others. 
Reports  of  the  third  class,  or  attempts  at  them,  are  in- 
creasing in  number.  Their  issue  is  generally  good  pol- 
icy. The  welfare  of  a  library  depends  far  more  on  its 
popularity  than  most  librarians  realize.  Public  opinion 
about  the  library  and  its  work  is  often  dependent  largely 
on  the  experiences  of  users  at  the  loan  desk.  About 
what  the  library  is  doing  or  trying  to  do  in  a  large  way 
— its  field  of  usefulness,  its  aims,  its  limitations — few 
know  or  care;  and  if  the  general  reader  can  be  induced 
to  inform  himself  about  some  of  these  things,  nothing 
but  good  can  result.     It  must  be  confessed,  however, 

267 


STATISTICS,    REPORTS,    ETC. 

that  the  average  citizen  does  not  yet  take  up  his  local 
library  report  with  the  same  interest  that  he  manifests 
in  the  presence  of  the  latest  issue  of  his  favorite  maga- 
zine. 

As  for  reports  of  the  second  type,  those  interesting 
to  librarians,  these  are  increasing  in  number.  Matters 
of  interest  to  other  workers  are  more  intelligently  se- 
lected than  formerly  and  more  clearly  set  forth.  There 
has  been  progress,  on  the  whole,  all  along  the  line;  but 
there  is  plenty  of  room  for  more. 

The  use  of  his  own  statistics  by  the  librarian  himself, 
along  lines  indicated  earlier  in  this  chapter,  is,  of  course, 
not  limited  to  those  contained  in  the  printed  report.  An 
idea  of  some  of  the  simpler  of  these  uses  may  be  gained 
from  the  following  statement: 

Regulation  of  Book  Selection. — Comparison  of  pur- 
chases by  classes  with  those  of  previous  years  and  those 
of  other  libraries  will  often  indicate  undue  expansion  in 
certain  directions  and  insufficient  addition  in  others. 
Comparison  of  percentages  of  stock  in  the  various  classes 
with  corresponding  class  percentages  of  circulation  will 
show  whether  the  library  is  keeping  pace  with  popular 
demand  along  the  different  lines. 

Economy  of  Administration. — Comparison  of  cost  of 
circulation  per  book  circulated  with  that  in  other  libra- 
ries, or  among  individual  libraries  in  the  same  system, 
will  often  reveal  unsuspected  weaknesses  in  this  respect. 
In  making  such  comparison,  all  expenses  may  be  in- 
cluded, or  only  such  as  are  properly  incident  to  circula- 
tion, excluding  certain  fixed  charges.  It  does  not  make 
any  material  difference,  provided  the  costs  to  be  com- 
pared have  been  calculated  on  precisely  the  same  basis. 

Comparison  of  pay  rolls  with  circulation  is  also  some- 
26a 


USES    OF    STATISTICS 

times  illuminating,  although  here,  too,  care  must  be 
taken  to  see  that  all  other  things  are  equal  in  the  cases 
compared.  Many  similar  comparisons  will  suggest  them- 
selves; for  instance,  the  cost  of  lighting,  with  total  area 
of  floor  space  or  with  the  total  cubic  capacity  of  the 
building;  the  amount  of  fines  collected,  with  circula- 
tion, and  so  on. 

TJse  hy  Readers. — Comparison  of  the  number  of  live 
cards  with  the  total  population  in  several  libraries  will 
show  whether  equal  advantage  is  taken  of  library  privi- 
leges, and  may  reveal  some  failure  on  the  part  of  the 
librarian  to  make  his  library  known  to  all  classes  and  all 
localities  in  his  city. 

Comparison  of  the  number  of  live  cards  with  the 
circulation  will  show  to  what  extent  card  holders,  on  the 
average,  are  taking  advantage  of  their  privileges. 

Distribution  of  Readers. — A  study  of  the  residences 
of  card  holders  as  recorded  in  the  registration  book  will 
often  reveal  an  absence  or  a  relatively  small  number  of 
users  in  certain  parts  of  the  city.  This  may  easily  lead 
up  to  a  discovery  of  the  cause  and  to  the  adoption  of 
means  to  remedy  it.  Residence  may  be  indicated  by 
dots  on  a  map,  and  the  grouping  of  readers  to  the  num- 
ber of  a  thousand  or  over  may  thus  be  shown  very  strik- 
ingly. 

This  might  be  continued  almost  indefinitely.  Any 
librarian  who  is  anxious  to  ascertain  the  weak  spots  in 
his  library  and  strengthen  his  work  at  the  points  where 
this  is  needed  may  gain  much  valuable  information  by 
inquiries  of  this  sort. 


CHAPTEK    XX 

LIBRARY  BUILDINGS 

The  architect — one  of  the  few  artists  the  result  of 
whose  work  is  to  combine  beauty  and  utility — too  often 
assumes  that  his  art  is  demanding  of  him  an  impossi- 
bility. He  is  apt  to  turn  out  a  useful  structure  without 
beauty  or  a  beautiful  one  without  utility.  The  proper 
combination  is  often  difficult,  it  is  true,  but  scarcely  im- 
possible; else  the  architect  would  have  no  excuse  for 
being.  There  are  two  distinctly  wrong  ways  of  going 
about  the  matter.  One  is  for  the  owner  to  design  a 
structure  that  will  satisfy  him  from  the  standpoint  of 
utility  and  then  turn  it  over  to  the  architect  to  be  made 
beautiful.  In  this  case  it  is  little  wonder  that  the 
"  architecture  "  is  "  stuck  on  " — merely  applique  work, 
like  trimming  en  a  garment.  The  other  wrong  way  is 
for  the  architect  to  design  a  beautiful  structure  and  then 
turn  it  over  to  the  owner  to  be  adapted  to  his  purposes 
as  best  it  may.  Such  a  structure  is  like  a  handsome 
woman  whom,  on  acquaintance,  we  discover  to  be  uned- 
ucated, incompetent,  and  silly — the  beauty,  though  it 
still  exists,  is  speedily  forgotten.  A  building  can  be 
made  both  beautiful  from  the  architect's  standpoint  and 
useful  from  that  of  the  owner  or  occupant  by  constant 
consultation  between  them,  by  comparison  of  views  at 
every  point,  and  by  intelligent  compromise  whenever 
this   is    found   to    be    necessary.      This    sounds   simple 

270 


LIBRARIAN    AND    ARCHITECT 

enough,  but  it  postulates  an  ideal  architect  and  an  ideal 
owner.  As  neither  exists,  we  have  many  imperfect 
buildings — objectionable  from  one  side  or  the  other. 
The  old  lady's  request  for  '*  a  very  small  Bible  in  very 
large  type  ' '  used  to  be  quoted  as  an  example  of  stu- 
pidity asking  for  an  impossibility.  The  joke  has  now 
lest  its  savor,  for  the  invention  of  a  thin  but  opaque 
paper  has  enabled  the  printer  to  produce  exactly  what 
she  wanted.  So  in  architecture,  many  an  apparent  im- 
passe may  be  surmounted  if  the  persons  concerned  have 
the  requisite  good  will  and  ingenuity.  Often  each  in- 
sists that  the  Bible  must  be  made  large  or  the  print 
small;  reconciliation  of  the  apparently  irreconcilable  is 
not  considered  for  an  instant. 

When  a  library  is  to  be  erected,  the  consulting  par- 
ties are  the  librarian  and  the  architect.  There  is 
usually,  quite  properly,  a  building  committee  of  the 
trustees ;  its  functions  and  those  of  the  whole  board  in 
the  premises  are  analogous  to  those  of  the  board  and  its 
committees  in  the  administration  of  the  library.  It 
should  lay  down  general  principles,  leaving  the  librarian 
and  the  architect  to  carry  them  out.  Thus,  if  the 
trustees  desire  a  wide,  low  structure  instead  of  a  high 
one,  or  if  they  wish  the  style  of  architecture  to  be  Old 
Colonial,  it  is  proper  that  they  should  indicate  this  to 
the  architect.  If  they  desire  a  more  than  usually  capa- 
cious open-shelf  room,  or  if  they  have  decided  that  spe- 
cial attention  shall  be  paid  in  the  new  building  to  tech- 
nology, it  is  right  that  they  should  so  direct  the  librarian. 
But  the  working  out  of  the  details  should  be  left  to  the 
librarian  and  the  architect,  the  board  reserving  to  itself 
the  right,  on  final  examination  of  the  plans,  to  say 
whether  its  stipulations  have  been  properly  carried  out. 

271 


LIBRARY    BUILDINGS 

The  worst  possible  combinaticn  is  that  cf  board  and 
architect,  the  librarian  being  ignored,  or  consulted  only 
when  it  is  too  late  to  make  changes.  In  particular  a 
board  that  undertakes  to  plan  and  construct  a  building 
for  a  newly  organized  library  before  its  librarian  has 
been  appointed  is  simply  sowing  trouble  which  it  will 
reap  later,  in  ample  measure. 

Of  course,  the  two  consultants — librarian  and  archi- 
tect— must  have  something  to  start  with.  The  librarian 
must  know  just  what  he  wants  in  the  new  building,  how 
many  square  feet  he  requires  for  each  purpose  and  the 
approximate  position  that  will  be  most  satisfactory  for 
each  department.  The  architect  has  a  mental  image  of 
the  sort  of  building  he  will  probably  design,  conditioned 
by  the  stipulations  of  the  trustees,  the  size,  shape,  and 
location  of  the  lot,  and  the  amount  to  be  expended. 
When  these  two  sets  of  specifications  are  brought  to- 
gether, the  adjustment  begins — the  fitting  of  part  to 
part,  the  advance  here,  the  yielding  there,  the  game  of 
give  and  take  that  goes  on  until  the  final  plans  are 
evolved — plans  that  satisfy  both  sides,  and  yet  are  not 
precisely  the  same  as  those  imaged  at  the  outset  by  either. 

If  there  is  to  be  an  architectural  competition,  this 
plan  cannot  be  followed  exactly ;  and  the  fact  that  it  can- 
not be  followed  is  a  valid  argument  against  competitions. 
It  is  necessary  in  some  cases,  however,  that  they  be 
held.  A  general  open  competition,  which  is  theoretically 
the  best,  means  usually  that  none  of  the  best  architects 
compete;  the  time  and  expense  of  preparing  plans  are 
not  sufficiently  compensated  by  the  small  chance — per- 
haps one  in  twenty  or  thirty — of  the  final  award.  To 
remedy  this,  it  is  sometimes  announced  that  the  architect 
will  be  taken  from  a  certain  restricted  number  of  com- 

272 


COMPETITION 

petitors,  chosen  by  the  jury  from  the  open  competition, 
each  to  receive  a  sum  more  than  sufficient  to  pay  for 
the  plans.  Or,  if  this  is  not  enough  to  bring  out  the  de- 
sired showing,  certain  eminent  firms  may  be  specially 
invited  to  compete,  with  the  offer  of  a  sufficient  hono- 
rarium to  induce  them  to  accept.  Some  architects  refuse 
to  go  into  a  competition,  no  matter  what  the  terms  may 
be — these,  of  course,  will  be  barred  out  in  any  case. 

If,  however,  a  competition  is  decided  upon,  the  re- 
quirements that  must  be  observed  by  all  the  competitors 
should  be  somewhat  more  definitely  formulated  than 
above  described,  and  printed  or  typewritten  for  distribu- 
tion among  them.  There  can  evidently  be  no  further 
consultation  until  the  award  has  been  pronounced  and 
the  architect  selected,  but  the  part  played  by  the  single 
architect  may  be  partly  taken  here  by  a  consulting 
architect  or  by  the  jury  of  award,  who  would  naturally 
be  consulted  in  the  preparation  of  the  specifications. 

In  the  case  of  a  library  for  a  small  town,  a  competi- 
tion seems  specially  undesirable,  the  expense  of  holding 
it  under  proper  conditions  being  unnecessarily  large. 
Here  particularly  it  is  best  to  pick  out  a  good  architect 
and  begin  to  work  with  him  at  once.  A  local  architect 
is  often  desired,  and  if  he  is  a  competent  man  he  may 
be  better  than  one  with  a  greater  reputation  but  at  a 
greater  distance;  the  local  man  will  take  pride  in  de- 
signing a  suitable  structure  for  his  own  tcwn;  he  will 
not  be  above  devoting  much  of  his  time  to  the  oversight 
of  the  work,  and  he  will  be  at  hand  whenever  he  is 
wanted.  There  is  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of  placing  a 
small  building  in  the  hands  of  an  energetic  young  man 
with  his  reputation  yet  to  make;  the  large  firm  wiU 
usually  turn  over  such  a  building  to  an  office  subor^i- 

273 


LIBRARY   BUILDINGS 

nate.  The  only  thing  to  be  made  sure — and  this  is  all 
important — is  that  the  architect  is  really  competent^ 
that  he  will  not  erect  a  building  that  will  be  a  laughing- 
stock from  the  artistic  standpoint  or  a  continual  source 
of  annoyance  to  those  who  must  use  it.  It  is  not  so 
difficult,  however,  to  ascertain  competence ;  it  may  easily 
be  done  by  consulting  an  expert.  Trouble  arises,  not 
from  difficulty  of  this  sort,  but  from  the  confidence  of 
librarian  and  board  of  trustees  in  their  own  ability  to 
judge,  when  they  do  not  possess  it. 

When  the  preliminary  plans  have  been  settled  upon, 
the  architect  prepares  working  drawings  and  specifica- 
tions on  which  bids  are  to  be  secured.  These  should  not 
be  left  entirely  to  the  architect,  as  is  often  the  case ;  the 
librarian  should  go  over  them  carefully,  insisting  on  ex- 
planations where  he  does  not  understand  them ;  and  he 
should  read  over  the  specifications  in  the  same  way. 
Not  even  this  will  give  him  a  complete  mental  image  of 
the  building  as  it  will  appear  when  finished;  dimen- 
sions, the  shape  of  rooms,  the  relative  positions  of 
objects,  the  light,  the  coloring — all  will  be  slightly  un- 
familiar to  him,  no  matter  how  familiar  he  may  be  with 
the  plans.  They  are  sometimes  surprising  even  to  the 
architect  himself,  but  no  pains  should  be  spared  to  get 
at  them  as  accurately  as  possible. 

Plans  and  specifications  are  now  given  out  to  con- 
tractors for  bids,  if  the  building  is  to  be  erected  by  con- 
tract, which  is  the  usual  way.  If  it  is  a  very  large  one, 
there  may  be  more  than  one  contract,  the  work  being 
divided  into  foundation,  superstructure,  interior  finish, 
plumbing  and  wiring,  and.  so  on.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
open  bidding  with  compulsory  selection  of  the  lowest 
bidder  is  not  necessary.    This  is  not  the  best  way  to  buy 

274 


BIDS 

anything.  The  theory  is  that  it  prevents  dishonest  deal- 
ing, but  the  worst  examples  of  fraud,  peculation,  and 
graft  may  be  found  under  it.  The  best  way  is  to  invite 
several  reputable  firms  to  bid,  and  then  select  the  lowest 
unless  there  is  some  good  reason  for  doing  otherwise. 
It  may  be  cheapest  in  the  end  to  take  the  highest  bidder, 
if  he  be  a  man  well  known  for  probity  and  high  quality 
of  work.  Of  course,  a  high  bid  does  not  necessarily 
mean  good  work.  Again,  if  it  is  desirable  that  the  work 
be  completed  on  time,  a  contractor's  reputation  for 
promptness  and  his  ability  to  hold  his  subcontractors  to 
their  work  should  count  in  his  favor.  Time  limits  in 
contracts  are  of  little  value  without  penalty  clauses,  and 
such  clauses  have  been  sometimes  held  invalid  by  the 
courts,  in  the  absence  of  offsetting  bonus  clauses  for 
work  finished  before  the  limit  of  time.  In  any  event,  it 
is  more  satisfactory  to  select  a  good  man  who  will  do  his 
work  well  and  promptly  than  to  rely  on  the  law  to  hold 
a  poor  workman  to  the  line.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
financial  responsibility.  The  failure  cf  a  contractor  in 
the  midst  of  his  work  involves  the  owner  in  innumerable 
difficulties  and  much  additional  expense;  and  all  chance 
of  such  an  accident  should  be  avoided  by  selecting  a 
thoroughly  solvent  and  responsible  man.  ]\Iany  firms  of 
architects  have  contractors  with  whom  they  are  accus- 
tomed to  work  and  whose  methods,  good  qualities,  and 
faults  they  know  intimately.  They  will  recommend 
these  when  the  trustees  are  free  to  choose,  and  where  all 
parties  concerned  are  worthy  of  confidence  there  is  much 
to  be  said  in  favor  cf  accepting  such  a  recommendation. 
The  architect  will,  of  course,  oversee  the  work  dur- 
ing its  progress;  but  here  also  the  librarian,  or  some  one 
else  to  represent  the  library,  must  keep  a  sharp  look- 
19  275 


LIBRARY   BUILDINGS 

out.  There  is  still  time  and  opportunity  to  make  many- 
small  changes  without  expense,  or  e,ven  at  a  saving,  and 
objectionable  features  may  often  be  foreseen  in  the 
actual  structure  when  they  lay  concealed  in  the  plans. 

The  best  site  for  a  library  building,  large  or  small,  is 
one  with  light,  and  preferably  with  ground,  on  all  sides, 
situated  centrally  in  a  residence  or  a  retail  business  dis- 
trict. A  site  closely  surrounded  by  high  buildings,  or 
in  a  purely  business  quarter,  or  close  to  an  uninhabited 
region,  as  a  river,  a  lake,  a  large  park,  or  an  extensive 
railway  yard  or  warehouse  district,  is  not  generally 
good.  The  recent  idea  of  a  *'  civic  center  "  around 
which  monumental  public  buildings  shall  be  grouped  has 
some  things  to  commend  it,  but  it  may  be  overdone.  A 
good  location  for  a  city  hall  and  a  courthouse  is  not 
necessarily  good  also  for  a  library ;  it  may  be  very  bad. 
In  general,  situations  that  are  ''  central  "  from  a  busi- 
ness standpoint  are  not  so  good  for  a  library  as  those 
that  are  central  from  a  residential  standpoint.  The 
same  conditions  apply  as  to  a  school;  a  lot  opposite  a 
schoolhouse  is  usually  good  for  a  branch  library,  and  the 
neighborhood  of  a  high  school  or  college  is  appropriate 
for  a  central  library. 

That  a  library  should  be  a  conspicuous,  monumental 
structure  seems  to  be  now  taken  for  granted.  Too  many 
architects,  however,  take  their  cue  from  the  chief  func- 
tion of  the  early  libraries — that  of  storehouses  for  costly 
treasures.  This,  as  we  have  seen,  is  not  the  keynote  of  the 
modern  library.  Too  many  library  buildings  look  as  if 
intended  to  keep  people  out  instead  of  luring  them  in. 
One  of  the  foremost  American  architects  built  a  popu- 
lar branch  library  with  heavy  steel  shutters  on  the  rear 
windows  and  wrought-iron  bars  on  the  front  ones.    There 

276 


FiiEE  Access  Shelves  in  Branch  of  New  York  Public 
Library. 


The  Stack  Room,   Ottendorfer  Branch,   New  York  Tublic 

Library. 


STACKS 

were  no  treasures  in  it  to  be  stolen;  the  designer  was 
carried  away  by  an  idea — and,  unfortunately,  it  was  a 
wrong  one.  It  is  right  that  the  building  occupied  by  a 
modern  library  should  give  the  impression  of  strength 
and  dignity;  but  its  strength  should  be  that  of  a  peo- 
ple's palace,  not  of  a  jail,  nor  even  of  a  safe-deposit 
vault. 

A  large  library  usually  contains  two  distinct  parts — 
a  stack  room,  in  which  the  books  are  stored,  and  reading 
rooms,  where  they  are  used.  As  a  reaction  from  the 
older  buildings,  where  the  books  were  stored  in  alcoves 
around  a  reading  room  or  a  series  of  such,  these  two 
parts  were  at  first  made  absolutely  distinct  and  separate ; 
there  was  nothing  but  books  in  the  stack,  and  no  books 
anywhere  else  in  the  building.  At  present,  although  the 
stack  room  of  a  large  library  is  still  a  thing  apart,  there 
are  books  elsewhere  in  the  building,  while  in  smaller 
buildings  the  stack  may  lose  its  individuality  or  alto- 
gether disappear. 

In  its  most  distinctive  and  separate  form  the  stack  is 
in  a  wing  of  its  own  and  contains  nothing  but  tiers  and 
rows  of  shelves.  It  is  generally  filled  with  a  framework 
of  steel,  with  floors  of  glass  or  marble  slabs  so  near  to- 
gether that  a  person  standing  on  the  floor  can  easily 
reach  books  on  the  upper  shelf,  between  which  and  the 
ceiling  there  is  no  waste  space.  Aisles,  also,  are  as  nar- 
row as  possible,  so  that  the  book-holding  capacity  of  the 
stack  may  be  a  maximum.  In  this  form,  no  one  but 
employees  is  expected  to  use  the  stack;  the  books  are 
carried  by  pages  or  by  mechanical  book  carriers  to  the 
reading  rooms.  In  some  smaller  buildings,  designed 
with  an  exclusive  stack  room  like  this,  the  stack  has 
been  thrown  open  to  the  public  on  the  adoption  of  the 

277 


LIBRARY   BUILDINGS 

open-shelf  system,  and  sometimes  such  a  stack  has  been 
designed  with  the  expectation  that  the  public  will  use 
it,  but  it  is  not  well  adapted  to  open-shelf  use.  Super- 
vision of  users  is  impossible  in  it.  Most  stack  rooms  are 
lighted  by  narrow  windows,  occupying  all  available 
space  in  the  walls  at  the  ends  of  the  spaces  between 
shelving.  To  be  thus  lighted,  the  stack  room  must  be 
narrow;  but  since  the  introduction  of  the  electric  light 
many  librarians  have  given  up  altogether  the  idea  of 
using  natural  light  in  the  stack,  and  are  placing  it  in 
the  interior  of  the  building,  reserving  all  the  natural 
light  for  the  reading  rooms. 

Some  librarians  have  always  protested  against  storing 
the  whole  stock  of  books  in  one  place,  and  have  pre- 
ferred some  such  arrangement  as  that  adopted  by  Dr. 
Poole  for  the  Newberry  Library,  in  Chicago — a  series  of 
separate  rooms,  each  containing  the  part  of  the  collec- 
tion relating  to  a  given  subject — sociology,  or  medicine, 
or  physical  science — and  in  charge  of  a  custodian  who  is 
an  expert  in  the  literature  of  that  particular  subject. 
This  departmental  idea  was  carried  to  its  extreme  by 
President  Harper  in  the  University  of  Chicago.  It  has 
not  been  a  favorite  with  public  libraries,  but  these  have 
adopted  certain  of  its  features.  Large  libraries  may 
have  separate  collections  in  economics,  technology, 
architecture,  or  other  special  subjects,  often  in  charge 
of  expert  custodians,  and  such  collections  as  those  of 
public  documents  may  also  be  stored  separately. 

Library  needs  and  conditions  change  so  rapidly  that 
almost  any  arrangement  of  rooms  and  departments 
goes  quickly  out  of  date.  Some  librarians  now  advo- 
cate the  abandonment  of  fixed  partitions  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, building  in  open  ''lofts"  divided  by  high,  mov- 

278 


DEPARTMENTAL  LIBRARIES 

able  book-cases,  admitting  easy  re-arrangement.  Some 
would  go  so  far  as  to  include  the  stack-room  in  this  plan. 
Smaller  libraries,  especially  branches,  may  discard 
the  stack  altogether,  and,  indeed,  it  has  little  place  in 
a  purely  open-shelf  library.  Where  a  sort  of  stack  is 
located  behind  the  desk,  supervision  may  be  insured 


#  w  t  ■  ■  ■  lai 


Ground  Plan  op  Main   Floor,    East  Liberty   Branch,   Carnegie 
Library  of  Pittsburgh.  Pa. 


by  placing  the  lines  of  shelving  along  radii  of  a  circle 
whose  center  is  the  desk.  Another  plan  is  to  use  low 
shelving  and  to  place  it  wherever  on  the  floor  may  be 
most  convenient.  The  most  elementary  form  of  small, 
open-shelf  library  consists  of  a  single  room  with  shelv- 
ing around  the  walls,  the  space  within  being  occupied 
by  a  small  charging  desk  and  by  tables  and  chairs  for 
readers.     In  a  somewhat  larger  form  one  end  may  be 

279 


LIBRARY    BUILDINGS 

given  up  to  children,  and  when  the  size  is  again  in- 
creased we  may  have  a  central  room,  containing  the 


Ground  Plan  of  Basement  Floor,  Carroll  Park  Branch, 
Brooklyn  Public  Library,  New  York. 


charging  desk,  a  book  room  in  the  rear,  and  open-shelf 
reading  rooms  for  children  and  adults  to  right  and  left. 
This  has  been  called  the  ' '  butterfly  type, ' '  on  account  of 
its  body  and  two  wings.  Further  growth  gives  space 
for  a  librarian's  office,  a  workroom,  a  staff  retiring  and 
lunch  room,  special  study  rooms,  etc.  In  the  basement 
are,  naturally,  storage  or  packing  rooms,  a  boiler  room, 
toilet  rooms,  and  perhaps  an  assembly  room.    In  a  small 

280 


ASSEMBLY   ROOMS 

building  an  assembly  room  is  a  nuisance,  as  it  takes  up 
space  that  could  profitably  be  otherwise  used;  but  it 
may  be  necessary  to  include  it.  In  buildings  of  the 
**  butterfly  "  type,  having  apsidal  book  rooms  with  ra- 
dial shelving,  the  space  below  such  a  room  is  of  excel- 
lent shape  for  this  purpose.  Some  effort  has  been  made 
of  late  to  utilize  certain  space  alternately  for  meetings 
and  for  some  other  purpose.    Thus  in  some  Philadelphia 


First  Floor  PlaK  of  Flatbush  Branch,  Brooklyn  Public 
Library,  New  York. 


branches  the  children's  room,  on  the  ground  floor,  may 
be  transformed  into  an  assembly  room  in  about  an  hour's 
time  by  opening  a  large  trapdoor  into  a  storeroom  be- 

281 


LIBRARY   BUILDINGS 

neath  and  exchanging  the  tables  and  chairs  for  assembly- 
room  benches.     The  books  on  the  wall  remain  as  they 


First  Floor  Plan,  Marshalltown,  Iowa,  Library. 


are.  In  some  New  York  branches  periodical  reading 
rooms  may  be  used  as  assembly  rooms  in  similar  fashion, 
space  for  storage  of  chairs  being  provided  on  the  same 
floor,  immediately  adjoining. 

In  large  buildings  no  such  makeshifts  are  necessary. 
Such  structures  may  contain  several  lecture  rooms  of 
different   sizes,    large    suites   of    administrative    offices, 

282 


STAIRS    AND    HALLS 


quarters  for  a  library  school  or  training  class,  rooms  for 
museums  of  curiosities  or  objects  of  art,  a  bindery,  a 
printing  office,  and  so  on.  Where  there  are  several  sto- 
ries, the  large  building  will  have  its  separate  staircase 
hall,  which  is  often  ornate.  Smaller  buildings  may  have 
stairs  in  a  separate  hall  or  they  may  be  in  the  library 
room  itself,  a  measure  that  makes  for  economy  of  super- 
vision. The  hallway  often  occupies  the  best  part  of  the 
front  of  the  building,  and  may  be  advantageously  re- 


Ground  Plan  op  Main  Floor,  Port  Richmond  Branch,  New  York 
Public  Library,  Staten  Island. 

placed  by  a  small  vestibule.  Small  branch  buildings  in 
crowded  city  locations  where  land  is  expensive  may  re- 
quire several  stories,  in  which  case  the  entrance  and 

m 


LIBRARY    BUILDINGS 

stairs  are  best  located  on  one  side.  In  such  a  building 
the  children's  room  may  occupy  an  entire  floor — an  ar- 
rangement not  without  its  advantages.  In  large  build- 
ings a  very  wide  latitude  is  possible  in  arrangement,  a 
few  cardinal  principles  being  kept  in  view.  Thus, 
where  mechanical  carriers  are  used,  the  relation  of  read- 
ing room  to  stack  must  be  such  as  to  make  these  easily 
operable.  Carriers  that  turn  corners  are  apt  to  get  out 
of  order.  In  some  recent  buildings  the  principal  read- 
ing room  is  at  the  top  of  the  structure,  directly  over 
the  stack,  which  reduces  all  carriers  to  lifts,  operating 
in  a  vertical  straight  line.  Again,  the  administrative 
rooms  must  be  in  such  sequence  that  a  book  may  be  re- 
ceived, catalogued,  prepared,  and  shelved  without  jump- 
ing about  from  one  part  of  the  building  to  another; 
offices  must  be  adjacent ;  rooms  to  be  frequented  by  stu- 
dents must  have  no  features  likely  to  attract  sightseers, 
and  so  on. 

In  all  except  very  small  buildings  it  is  an  advantage 
to  include  living  quarters  for  the  janitor  and  his  family. 
Not  only  is  it  easier  for  the  janitor  to  care  for  the  library 
when  he  lives  in  it,  but  a  better  man  may  be  secured 
for  a  smaller  salary  under  these  circumstances.  The 
apartment  should  include  living  room,  kitchen,  bed- 
rooms, bathroom,  and  space  for  storage.  It  may  be  in 
the  basement,  but  is  better  at  the  top  of  the  building,  in 
which  case  a  hand  lift  for  supplies  should  lead  to  it 
from  near  the  service  door. 

In  crowded  city  districts  it  is  often  a  good  plan  to 
place  an  open-air  reading  room  on  the  roof.  This  re- 
quires a  stronger  roof,  access  by  means  of  a  stairway, 
proper  lights,  and  an  awning.  It  is  also  well  to  include 
with  shelving  to  store  books  and  papers 
284 


*'  ROOF    GARDEN*' 

in  a  shower.  Boxes  of  flowers,  etc.,  add  gayety  and 
serve  to  justify  the  name  of  *'  roof  garden,"  popularly 
given  to  such  reading  rooms.  The  awning  is  hard  to 
manage,  and  a  heavy  thundergust  may  demoralize  it,  if 
close  lookout  is  not  kept.  In  some  places  a  permanent 
roof  is  preferred,  but  with  this  the  comfort  of  direct 
radiation  upward  must  be  foregone.  Such  a  '^  roof  gar- 
den "  is  really  only  a  top  story  with  no  sides. 

A  library  should  have  windows  in  abundance.  In 
case  wall  shelving  is  to  be  used,  the  maximum  space  for 
this  may  be  obtained  only  by  raising  the  windows  until 
the  sills  are  above  the  line  of  the  top  shelf.  This  gives  a 
shut-in  appearance.  Librarians  who  adopt  it  argue, 
with  show  of  truth,  that  people  do  not,  or  should  not, 
come  to  a  library  to  look  out  of  the  windows,  and  that 
these  apertures  are  only  to  admit  light.  There  is  no  de- 
nying, however,  that  an  occasional  glimpse  of  tree  or 
shrub,  or  even  of  a  paved  street,  is  a  relief  to  the  eye. 
This  may  be  obtained  by  bringing  some  of  the  windows 
down  lower,  even  if  lowering  them  all  would  take  up  too 
much  wall  space.  Low  windows  are  advantageous  from 
another  standpoint  also :  they  enable  the  passer-by  to  see 
what  is  going  on  within  the  library  and  often  arouse  his 
curiosity  and  attract  him  to  enter.  This,  of  course,  can 
be  the  case  only  when  the  window  sill  is  not  more  than 
four  feet  above  the  sidewalk.  It  is  well  not  to  place 
important  rooms  in  the  basement,  but  it  is  often  neces- 
sary to  locate  an  assembly  room  here,  and  in  this  case 
it  is,  of  course,  impracticable  to  place  windows  so  near 
the  sidewalk.  It  is  also  unnecessary  where  there  are 
grounds  around  the  building  so  that  it  becomes  difficult 
to  see  in,  no  matter  how  low  the  windows  may  be. 

No  method  of  opening  and  closing  the  windows  of  a 
285 


LIBRARY   BUILDINGS 

library  is  quite  satisfactory.  The  sashes  may  slide  or 
turn  on  hinges  or  pivots.  The  box-frame  sliding  sash, 
balanced  by  weights,  is  most  familiar  to  Americans  and 
is  most  convenient  in  many  respects,  although  architects 
do  not  like  it.  It  is  easy  to  make  thoroughly  weather- 
proof, but  only  half  the  window  space  can  be  opened  at 
once — an  objection  in  hot  summer  weather.  The  French 
casement  window,  with  double-hinged  sashes,  is  pictur- 
esque and  may  be  opened  to  any  desired  degree,  but  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  make  it  weatherproof.  The  single 
pivoted,  sash,  with  pivots  at  top  and  bottom,  is  better  in 
this  respect,  but  stands  at  right  angles  to  the  plane  of 
the  window  when  wide  open,  which  is  awkward ;  and  it 
is  heavy  to  manipulate.  Windows  with  numerous  small 
sashes  pivoted  at  right  and  left  are  advocated  by  many 
architects  and  a  recent  form  in  which  the  upper  sash 
pulls  inward  and  downward,  while  the  lower  moves  at 
the  same  time  outward  and  upward,  has  distinct  ad- 
vantages. "Where  shades  must  be  used,  the  sliding  sash 
is  most  convenient.  With  French  windows,  the  shade 
rollers  must  be  fastened  on  the  top  of  the  sash  itself, 
and  the  same  is  true  of  the  large  pivoted  sash.  In  both 
these  cases  the  shade  swings  open  with  the  sash.  With 
numerous  small  pivoted  sashes,  the  shade  roller  may  be 
placed  at  the  top  of  the  casing,  but  the  shade  cannot 
be  pulled  down  if  the  sashes  are  open  far.  With  larger 
windows  it  is  often  best  to  use  two  shades,  either  at' 
top  and  bottom  or  together  across  the  center. 

Stained  glass  is  out  of  place  in  a  library  unless  there  f^ 
are  so  many  windows  that  the  one  with  colored  glass  <1 
may  be  left  out  of  the  reckoning. 

Shall  the  library  be  fireproof  ?  That  depends.    If  no 
money  can  replace  its  contents,   they  cannot  be   in- 

286 


FIREPROOFING 

sured,  properly  speaking ;  and  no  pains  should  be  spared 
to  make  it  as  resistant  to  fire  as  possible.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  no  building  can  be  fireproof  in  the 
sense  that  a  sufficiently  great  heat  immediately  around 
it  will  not  injure  it  and  its  contents,  even  if  neither  in- 
clude combustible  material.  The  only  safeguard  is  to 
leave  so  large  a  space  about  the  building  as  to  preclude 
the  possibility  of  a  high  degree  of  heat  immediately 
around  it.  A  public  park  is  thus  a  good  location  for  a 
library  of  this  kind.  Some  modern  buildings  have  been 
provided  with  "  water  curtains  " — devices  for  letting 
fall  a  continuous  sheet  of  water  from  the  cornice  in  case 
of  fire  outside ;  but  the  efficiency  of  this  device  has  been 
doubted.  As  for  protection  from  fire  arising  from 
within,  that  may  theoretically  be  attained  by*  using  no 
combustible  substance  in  the  building  and  its  furniture 
and  placing  no  combustible  thing  within  it — an  obvi- 
ously impossible  condition  in  the  case  of  a  library.  A 
building  is  ordinarily  reckoned  * '  fireproof  "  if  as  little 
wood  as  possible  enters  into  any  of  its  structural  parts; 
if,  in  particular,  its  roof,  walls,  exterior  and  interior, 
stairs,  and  floors  are  all  incombustible,  being  made  of 
metal,  brick,  stone  and  concrete  or  plaster. 

In  a  smaller  building,  whose  books  are  of  such  char- 
acter that  they  may  easily  be  replaced  in  case  of  loss  by 
fire,  it  may  often  be  bad  policy  to  expend  the  increased 
cost  of  fireproof  construction,  especially  where  a  limited 
sum  is  available,  as  is  generally  the  case.  It  may  be 
better  to  put  up  an  ordinary  structure  of  greater  size 
and  usefulness  than  to  build  an  inadequate  and  cramped 
fireproof  edifice. 

For  floors,  a  sheathing  of  soft  wood,  covered  with 
linoleum,  leaves  little  to  be  desired.    In  case  of  fireproof 

287 


LIBRARY    BUILDINGS 

floors,  it  has  been  found  that  the  wood  sometimes  rots 
under  these  conditions,  being  inclosed  between  two  im- 
pervious layers.  The  linoleum  may  be  laid  directly  on 
cement,  or  it  may  be  discarded  and  a  floor  of  hard  wood 
may  be  used.  Wood  floors  are  good,  though  difficult  to 
keep  clean  and  in  condition  in  a  largely  used  library. 
In  more  expensive  buildings,  terrazo,  marble  blocks,  or 
tiles  will  generally  be  found.  These  are  easily  cleaned, 
durable,  and  handsome,  but  generally  more  or  less  noisy. 
Rubber  interlocking  tiling  is  soft,  attractive,  and  easily 
replaced  in  worn  spots,  but  very  expensive,  and  apt  to 
give  off  an  unpleasant  odor  when  confined.  Compressed 
cork  tile  is  soft,  pleasant  to  eyes  and  feet,  noiseless, 
and  durable  to  ordinary  wear,  although  it  will  not 
stand  rough  treatment  and  is  expensive.  There  are 
various  patent  floorings,  generally  combinations  of 
cements  and  sawdust,  laid  with  a  trowel,  which  give 
fairly  good  results,  some  of  them  combining  the  advan- 
tages of  tile  or  terrazo  with  those  of  linoleum. 

Most  libraries  require  some  mechanical  appliance  for 
carrying  books  from  floor  to  floor.  The  conveyors  used 
in  large  stacks  have  already  been  mentioned.  In  smaller 
libraries,  having  two  or  more  floors,  some  sort  of  a  dumb- 
waiter will  ordinarily  be  required.  An  ordinary  waiter 
operated  by  hand  is  the  cheapest,  but  very  exhausting  to 
the  strength  of  those  who  operate  it.  The  electric  lifts 
are  convenient,  though  expensive,  and  apt  to  get  out  of 
order,  but  there  is  nothing  better  at  present.  The  liabil- 
ity to  accident  may  be  reduced  by  lessening  the  number 
of  electric  connections.  As  usually  constructed,  the  lifts 
have  on  each  floor  a  set  of  buttons  numbered  to  corre- 
spond with  the  different  floors.  Pressing  button  No.  3, 
for  instance,  on  any  floor  will  send  the  car  from  wher- 

288 


I 


ELECTRIC    BOOK-LIFTS 

ever  it  may  be  to  the  third  floor.  In  the  simpler  method 
each  floor  has  but  one  button,  pressing  which  brings  the 
car  to  that  floor.  The  car  cannot  be  sent  away  from  a 
floor;  it  must  be  summoned  to  the  floor  where  it  is 
needed.  This  involves  communicating  with  the  floor 
where  it  is  to  go,  by  speaking  tube,  telephone,  or  electric 
bell,  but  as  the  same  communication  would  have  been 
necessary  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  car  had 
been  sent,  no  additional  labor  is  involved.  The  number 
of  connections,  as  is  easily  seen,  is  greatly  reduced,  and 
the  liability  to  getting  out  of  order  is  correspondingly 
decreased. 

The  problem  of  keeping  a  building  clean  is  great, 
and  not  always  satisfactorily  solved.  Outside,  the  disre- 
spectful small  boy  uses  the  stone  or  brick  work  as  a 
drawing  board,  and,  although  it  is  possible  to  remove  the 
marks,  they  may  be  replaced  in  much  less  time  than  it 
takes  to  erase  them.  Scrubbing  with  metallic  brushes 
and  the  use  of  the  sandblast  are  the  methods  generally 
employed.  Where  there  is  much  smoke  the  use  of  the 
sandblast  is  not  to  be  recommended,  as  it  leaves  a 
roughened  surface  that  catches  and  holds  the  soot. 
Within,  the  most  difficult  part  of  a  building  to  keep 
clean — floors  always  excepted — is  the  plastered  wall. 
In  most  buildings  this  is  covered  with  several  coats  of 
oil  paint,  which  becomes  dusty  or  grimy  very  soon, 
either  from  the  deposition  of  floating  particles  or  con- 
tact with  soiled  fingers.  Deposition  of  dust  from  the 
air  occurs  first  and  most  conspicuously  where  convec- 
tion currents  impinge  against  the  walls,  as  around  wall 
registers  and  over  radiators.  This  may  in  part  be  pre- 
vented by  placing  hoods  over  all  such.  The  selective 
deposition  of  the  dust,  by  which,  for  instance,  the  pat- 

289 


LIBRARY  BUILDINGS 

tern  of  the  underlying  metal  lath  is  sometimes  picked 
out  on  a  plastered  wall,  suggests  that  the  phenomenon 
may  be  molecular,  and  that  possibly,  by  experiment,  a 
combination  of  materials  might  be  found  that  would 
repel  the  floating  dust  instead  of  attracting.  Investi- 
gations on  what  physicists  call  "molecular  bombard- 
ment" indicate  also  that  dust  is  driven  from  heated 
air  against  a  colder  surface ;  whereas,  if  the  air  is  cool 
and  the  surface  warm,  the  dust  is  not  deposited.  The 
subject  in  its  practical  aspects  is  worth  study.  It  is 
possible  to  wash  a  painted  wall  so  that  it  will  look  well, 
but  the  ordinary  janitor  only  succeeds  in  making  it 
look  smeary.  A  wall  will  require  repainting  generally 
in  three  to  five  years,  according  to  conditions.  Inac- 
cessible walls  and  ceilings  may  be  covered  with  water 
paint,  and  this  is  now  available  even  for  surfaces  that 
are  within  reach,  as  the  newer  varieties  are  hard  to  rub 
off.  Decoration  may  be  covered  with  size  when  first  ap- 
plied. The  dirt  washes  off  with  it  when  the  wall 
is  cleaned,  after  which  the  size  is  replaced. 

The  invention  of  the  vacuum  cleaner  has  greatly  sim- 
plified many  of  the  cleaning  problems  of  the  library. 
By  the  use  of  nozzles  of  different  shapes,  many  kinds  of 
surfaces — hard  walls  or  floors,  soft  rugs  or  fabrics,  etc. 
— may  be  cleaned  with  it,  and  the  dust  is  disposed  of  in 
a  sanitary  manner.  Dust  may  even  be  taken  from  a 
standing  row  of  books  by  a  combination  of  blast  and  ex- 
haust— the  former  to  raise  the  dust  and  the  latter  to  re- 
move it,  or  by  a  combination  of  brush  and  exhaust 
nozzle,  serving  the  same  purpose.  In  a  large  library 
a  special  vacuum  plant  may  be  installed  with  pipe 
outlets  at  convenient  points;  in  smaller  structures 
the    cleaner    must    rely    on    a    traveling    machine    or 

290 


FURNITURE 

on  some  of  the  portable  devices.  The  suction  of  some 
of  these  is  deficient,  and  some  experience  is  essential  to 
the  satisfactory  use  of  all.  Much  greasy  or  sticky  dust 
will  not  yield  to  any  vacuum  process.  In  any  case, 
even  if  the  small  institution  cannot  afford  vacuum 
cleaning,  no  method  of  removing  dust  should  be  al- 
lowed that  throws  it  into  the  air.  "Dustless"  dusters 
and  cloths  may  now  be  obtained  that  gather  up  the 
dust  by  adhesion,  and  may  be  easily  cleaned  by  wash- 
ing. In  cleaning  floors,  the  electric  scrubbers  now 
available  save  much  time  and  energy. 

Library  furniture  may  be  divided  into  two  classes — 
the  fixed,  which  is  practically  part  of  the  building,  and 
is  often  specified  in  the  general  contract,  and  the  mov- 
able, which  is  usually  bought  separately.  The  former 
usually  includes  the  charging  desk ;  shelving,  whether  in 
the  stack  or  along  the  walls ;  window  seats  or  built-in 
benches,  partial  glass  partitions,  sash  protection  for  stair- 
ways, etc.  The  latter  are  tables,  chairs,  movable  benches, 
seats  for  assembly  rooms,  book  trucks,  signs,  and  labels, 
etc. 

The  charging  desk  is  the  library's  central  point,  the 
place  at  which  its  most  vital  activities  go  on,  the  point 
at  which  the  librarian  comes  into  touch  with  his  public. 
It  may  happen  that  the  position  and  size  of  this  desk 
may  determine  in  conspicuous  particulars,  the  character 
of  the  whole  building.  Architects  sometimes  object  to 
"  building  a  library  around  a  charging  desk,"  but  the 
failure  to  do  so  may  result  in  a  poor  building.  The  size 
and  position  of  the  desk  depend  on  the  conditions  under 
which  a  library  is  to  be  used.  Varying  with  such  condi- 
tions, the  desk  may  be  small,  for  a  small  institution  with 
limited  circulation,  requiring  the  attendance  of  only  one 
20  291 


LIBRARY   BUILDINGS 

assistant  at  a  time ;  large,  for  a  large  and  busy  library ; 
high,  for  adults;  low,  for  children;  closed,  where  curi- 
osity might  tempt  the  public  to  invade  it;  having  nar- 
rower or  wider  aisles  at  the  sides  as  stricter  control  at 
the  charging  and  discharging  points  is  necessary.  It 
may  be  in  the  front  of  the  room,  or  in  the  center,  or  at 
other  points,  its  location  depending  on  the  position  of 
the  entrance,  on  the  light,  on  the  necessity  for  a  larger 
or  smaller  space  in  front,  and  so  on.  Both  size  and  posi- 
tion may  also  depend,  for  instance,  on  whether  a  sepa- 
rate desk  is  to  be  used  for  registration.  All  these  con- 
siderations are  vitally  bound  up  with  the  structural 
features  of  the  building.  If  the  latter  is  planned  first, 
it  will  generally  be  found  that  the  position  of  entrances, 
windows,  columns,  or  other  structural  elements  interfere 
with  making  the  desk  as  large,  or  the  aisles  as  narrow, 
or  the  position  as  far  forward  or  as  far  back  as  the  libra- 
rian desires.  The  position  and  size  of  the  desk  should 
therefore  be  among  the  data  that  are  furnished  to  the 
architect  to  work  to,  at  the  outset. 

Charging  desks  are  of  two  general  types — the  open- 
shelf  and  the  closed-shelf.  The  closed-shelf  desk  is  typ- 
ically a  straight  counter  separating  the  public  space 
from  the  stack  room.  The  open-shelf  counter,  since  all 
the  library  space  is  public  in  this  case,  surrounds,  or 
nearly  surrounds,  a  central  area  occupied  by  the  assist- 
ants, generally  only  those  who  are  doing  desk  work. 
This  space  and,  accordingly,  the  shape  of  the  counter 
may  be  of  almost  any  form — rectangular,  curved,  or 
polygonal.  The  rectangular  is  the  cheapest  and  sim- 
plest, although  possibly  the  least  beautiful.  Except  in 
very  small  libraries,  it  is  desirable  so  to  arrange  the  desk 
that  all  users  shall  pass  close  to  it  both  on  entering  and 

292 


Old   Closed-Shelf    System,   Formerly    Used  in 
THE  New  York  Public  Library. 


Branches 


Oi'en-Shklf  System,  with  Delivery  Desk  Looking  Towakd 
General  Reading  and  Reference  Rooms,  East  Orange 
(N.  J.)  Library. 


CHARGING  DESKS 

on  leaving  the  library.  The  simplest  arrangement  is  to 
charge  the  books  on  one  side  and  discharge  them  at  the 
other,  railings  on  both  sides  forcing  the  borrowers  to 
keep  close  to  the  desk.  The  front  is  then  free,  if  desired, 
for  registration  work.  The  smaller  the  inclosed  area  the 
easier  it  is  for  assistants,  within  limits,  to  move  about  in 
it,  and  especially  the  easier  it  is  for  a  single  assistant,  in 
case  of  necessity,  to  serve  it.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
is  less  room  in  a  small  desk  for  the  necessary  drawers, 
trays,  cupboards,  and  shelving.  As  the  librarian  lays 
stress  on  one  or  the  other  of  these  considerations,  the 
desk  will  be  larger  or  smaller — within  limits.  Some 
librarians  prefer  to  carry  on  much  general  library  work 
inside  the  desk;  to  provide  room  in  it  for  assistants  who 
sit  at  tables  cataloguing,  mending,  or  preparing  new 
books  for  the  shelves.  This  necessitates  a  very  large 
desk,  indeed.  The  reason  for  it  is  that  the  extra  assist- 
ants are  on  hand  precisely  where  they  are  needed  in  case 
of  a  rush,  but  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  an  appearance  of 
disorder  at  such  a  desk,  and  it  is  easy  to  provide  a  more 
secluded  place  within  easy  reach  for  carrying  on  work 
of  this  kind. 

Necessary  features  in  almost  all  desks  are  a  circula- 
tion tray,  preferably  covered  when  not  in  use  (and  at 
such  times  not  projecting  above  the  counter),  removable 
in  separate,  light  sections ;  an  arrangement,  on  the  charg- 
ing side,  for  dropping  the  book  cards  through  slits  into 
compartments  in  a  drawer  below,  thus  effecting  a  pre- 
liminary sorting;  a  cash  drawer  with  easily  operated 
locking  device;  trays  for  applications,  in  case  the  desk 
is  to  be  used  also  for  registration;  and  cupboards  or 
shelving  for  storing  such  articles  as  need  to  be  kept  close 
at  hand.    A  marble  or  slate  mopboard  is  desirable,  as  the 

293 


LIBRARY   BUILDINGS 

toes  of  persons  standing  at  the  desk  are  otherwise  apt  to 
inflict  damage. 

Shelving  in  a  large  stack  room  is  preferably  metallic, 
with  adjustable  and  readily  removable  shelves,  and  as 
few  projections  for  catching  dust  as  possible.  The  de- 
vice for  holding  the  shelves  should  be  absolutely  simple. 
All  complicated  locking  or  releasing  devices  get  out  of 
order.  Metal  shelving  of  this  kind,  while  appropriate 
for  a  stack  room,  is  not  as  well  fitted  for  wall  shelving, 
which  should  be  preferably  of  wood,  not  necessarily  with 
adjustable  shelves,  though  these  are  better.  Sections 
should  be  not  more  than  three  feet  wide  to  prevent  sag- 
ging. A  standard  height  is  six  feet  (seven  shelves)  in 
the  adult  department  and  three  and  a  half  feet  (four 
shelves)  in  the  children's  room.  The  depth  is  generally 
six  to  eight  inches,  or  ten  to  fifteen  where  the  shelf  is  for 
large  reference  books.  Open-access  shelving  intended  for 
large,  thin  books,  like  bound  music  scores,  should  be 
fixed  and  divided  by  thin  vertical  wooden  partitions 
about  four  or  five  inches  apart.  It  is  better  to  back  all 
wall  shelving  with  wood,  as  if  the  books  touch  the 
painted  wall  they  leave  marks  and  are  themselves  soiled. 
If  there  is  no  wooden  backing,  the  wall  behind  the 
shelves  may  be  covered  with  burlap,  or  at  least  painted 
a  darker  shade  than  the  rest  of  the  room. 

In  selecting  movable  furniture,  it  is  always  found 
difficult  to  match  the  trim  and  built-in  objects,  even  if 
the  furniture  is  made  to  order.  It  is  best  to  have  a  sam- 
ple of  wood  finished  to  suit  and  then  sawed  in  two — one 
piece  for  the  building  contractor  and  one  for  the  furni- 
ture builder.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  see  a  library  where 
the  trim  reveals  two  or  three  tints,  the  shelving  as 
many  more,  and  the  tables  and  chairs  still  others. 

294 


HEATING 

The  old  style  of  long  table  seems  now  to  be  regarded 
by  librarians  as  cumbersome.  Small  tables,  some  rectan- 
gular and  some  circular,  to  hold  about  six  each,  are  liked 
best.  For  adults  these  may  be  thirty  to  thirty-two  inches 
high;  for  children,  twenty-five  to  twenty-eight.  Chairs 
in  all  cases  should  be  of  height  for  use  with  the  tables, 
and  in  the  case  of  the  low  chairs  for  children  an  adult 
chair,  with  the  legs  shortened  by  sawing,  should  not  be 
used. 

Two  systems  of  heating  are  adapted  to  buildings  like 
libraries — the  so-called  direct  and  indirect  radiation.  In 
both,  despite  the  name,  the  heating  is  done  chiefly  by 
convection.  In  ' '  direct  radiation  ' '  the  heater  stands  in 
the  room  or  space  to  be  heated;  in  indirect  radiation  it 
is  in  a  separate  space  or  chamber  through  which  fresh 
air  is  passed,  heated,  and  delivered  where  desired.  The 
latter  system  furnishes  ventilation  also,  and  is  much 
preferable  on  that  account;  but  it  is  much  more  com- 
plicated and  expensive  than  the  former.  The  two  are 
sometimes  employed  in  conjunction.  The  terms  are  gen- 
erally used  of  systems  where  the  heaters  are  coils  of  pipe 
or  radiators  through  which  steam  or  hot  water  is  passed ; 
but  they  may  well  be  extended  to  the  case  where  the 
heater  is  a  stove  or  its  equivalent.  An  ordinary  stove  or 
gas  radiator  would  then  be  classed  as  a  ''  direct-radia- 
tion "  system,  and  a  hot-air  furnace,  whether  heated  by 
coal  or  by  gas,  as  '*  indirect  radiation."  As  noted  above, 
the  only  case  where  any  considerable  portion  of  the  heat 
imparted  is  really  radiant  is  where  a  very  hot  stove  is 
the  heater ;  in  both  systems  air  becomes  heated  by  direct 
contact  with  the  heater  and  rises,  giving  place  to  a  new 
supply.  The  principal  difference  between  the  two  is  that 
in  '*  direct  radiation  '*  the  air  is  heated  over  and  over, 

295 


LIBRARY    BUILDINGS 

while  with  "  indirect  radiation  "  a  fresh  supply  is  con- 
tinually introduced  from  without.  A  hot-air  furnace,  if 
properly  fired  and  kept  in  repair,  is  a  good  and  econom- 
ical source  of  heat,  especially  for  a  small  building.  Its 
drawbacks  are  the  effects  of  wind  pressure  in  altering 
the  delivery  from  the  various  hot-air  flues,  and  the  diffi- 
culty of  keeping  the  furnace  gases  out  of  these  flues. 
Most  libraries  are  now  heated  by  hot  water  or  steam,  be- 
tween which  there  is  little  to  choose.  The  two  furnish 
different  ranges  of  temperature,  those  of  water  being  all 
below  the  boiling  point  and  those  of  steam  all  above  it. 
With  hot  water  all  radiators  must  be  higher  than  the 
boiler,  which  often  makes  it  hard  to  heat  basements 
properly  with  it. 

As  most  small  libraries  use  the  direct-radiation  sys- 
tem, the  location  of  the  radiators  is  an  important  ques- 
tion. They  are  in  the  way,  wherever  they  are.  From 
the  heating  standpoint,  the  place  for  them  is  under  the 
windows,  for  they  may  thus  be  supplied  with  fresh  air 
by  opening  the  latter  slightly,  and  also  the  interior  air, 
chilled  in  winter  by  contact  with  the  panes,  is  heated  as 
it  falls  and  prevented  from  flowing  to  the  floor,  where 
it  would  form  a  cold  layer.  Space  under  windows,  how- 
ever is  needed  for  shelving,  or  sometimes  for  window 
seats.  Circular  radiators  in  the  middle  of  the  room  oc- 
cupy space  needed  for  readers,  although  the  loss  may  be 
minimized  by  placing  them  around  pillars.  Among  re- 
cent experimental  positions  are  beneath  or  behind  wall 
shelving,  in  suspension  on  walls,  and  beneath  or  behind 
window  seats.  The  first  two  methods  require  careful 
protection  with  nonconductors  to  keep  the  heat  from  in- 
juring the  books.  In  these  and  other  methods,  where  the 
coil  or  radiator  is  not  exposed  to  view,  there  must,  of 

296 


VENTILATION 

course,  be  openings  below  to  admit  the  cooler  air  and 
above  for  the  escape  of  the  air  after  heating. 

In  small  buildings  ventilation  may  be  obtained 
through  the  windows  and  doors.  In  large  buildings 
there  is  generally  provided  also  a  system  for  forced 
ventilation  by  means  of  fans,  operating  usually  in  con- 
nection with  the  heating  system.  Such  systems  are 
rarely  satisfactory  and  they  are  very  expensive.  A 
study  of  library  ventilation  is  now  being  made  by  a 
special  committee  of  the  A.  L.  A.  In  a  small  building 
heated  mostly  by  direct  radiation  it  is  often  well  for 
ventilating  purposes  to  include  two  or  three  coils  un- 
der the  main  floor,  fed  by  fresh-air  ducts.  This  may  be 
done  inexpensively,  because  the  main-floor  ducts  will 
naturally  be  located  just  under  the  basement  ceiling. 

In  lighting  a  library  one  or  both  of  two  general  prin- 
ciples may  be  relied  upon — that  of  local  lighting  or  that 
of  general  lighting.  The  former  aims  to  throw  the  light 
only  on  those  surfaces  where  it  is  needed;  the  latter 
strives  to  flood  the  space  with  light,  so  that,  just  as  in 
daylight,  there  will  be  enough  for  all  purposes  without 
directing  it  especially  anywhere.  Speaking  generally, 
the  former  method  requires  less  light  and  is  cheaper, 
but  a  multiplicity  of  fixtures  must  be  used  to  hold  the 
sources  of  light  and  reflectors  in  the  necessary  positions. 
It  is  difficult  to  make  these  beautiful,  and  their  number 
creates  a  feeling  of  confusion.  On  the  other  hand,  to 
flood  a  room  with  light  so  that  there  shall  be  sufficient 
everywhere  for  all  purposes  necessitates  very  bright 
sources  and  makes  it  certain  that  the  intensity  in  some 
places  shall  be  very  much  greater  than  necessary.  Ex- 
perts are  divided  in  opinion  regarding  the  relative  mer- 
its of  general  and  local  lighting,  and  in  practice  a  com- 

297 


47- ll" 


Position  of  Electric-light  Outlets  in  St.  Gabriel's  Park 
Branch,  New  York  Public  Library, 

29$ 


LIGHTING 

bination  of  the  two  is  often  adopted.  Either  light  is 
thrown  just  where  it  is  wanted — on  the  tables,  the  open- 
shelf  books,  the  desks,  etc. — and  a  feeble  general  illu- 
mination is  furnished  in  addition  by  suspended  lights,  or 
a  general  illumination  of  sufficient  power  to  light  up  all 
but  the  most  inaccessible  points  is  supplied,  and  supple- 
mented by  local  light  to  i-eveal  these.  The  most  difficult 
place  to  light  is  the  book  shelf  next  the  floor.  In  stacks 
where  the  general  public  does  not  have  to  be  looked 
after,  suspended  lights,  to  be  turned  on  or  off  as  desired, 
are  generally  sufficient.  One  objection  to  fixed  electric 
lights  on  reading  tables,  especially  in  children's  rooms, 
is  that  they  anchor  the  tables  to  the  floor.  Such  fixtures 
should  always  be  so  arranged  that  the  tables  may  easily 
be  detached  without  calling  in  an  electrician.  By  pro- 
viding a  sufficient  number  of  floor  outlets,  with  flush 
plates  to  cover  them,  reasonable  variety  in  the  positiouvi 
of  the  tables  may  be  secured. 

Small  rural  libraries  may  have  to  rely  upon  lamps, 
and  there  is  now  nothing  better  than  the  various  types 
using  kerosene.  If  electricity  is  available,  it  should  be 
used.  The  incandescent  iilament  lamp  is  now  the  only 
one  used  for  inside  lighting,  the  arc  being  confined  to 

CI    — Ceiling  outlet,  electric.  D|  — Floor  outlet,  extension. 

•J^  — Bracket  outlet,  electric.  JM  — <iras-outlet. 

■■rfV  — Bracket  outlet,  combination.      ^P*  *  *  * 

$   —Switch. 
•J3    — Baseboard  receptacle. 

•^  ^    —Furniture  outle^ 

jnT  — Floor  outlet,  flush. 

Kbt  to  System  of  iLiiUMiNATiON, 

299 


LIBRARY  BUILDINGS 

outside  work  and  the  Nernst — an  electric  ' '  Welsbach ' ' 
once  regarded  as  promising,  having  gone  out  of  use.  The 
ordinary  carbon-filament  lamp  is  fast  being  disused. 
The  tungsten  light  is  very  white  and  bright — a  near 
approximation  to  daylight — and  it  is  economical  in  con- 
sumption of  current.  Great  improvements  have  been 
made  in  the  strength  and  stability  of  the  filaments  and 
these  lights  may  now  be  had  in  a  large  range  of  sizes. 
The  newer  type,  in  which  the  bulb  is  filled  with  nitro- 
gen gas  instead  of  being  exhausted,  has  distinct  ad- 
vantages, especially  where  large  units  can  be  used. 

No  matter  what  the  source,  if  it  is  brilliant  it  should 
not  be  placed  where  the  reader's  eye  can  look  at  it  di-  I 
rectly.  Especially  is  this  true  of  the  incandescent  fila- 
ment itself.  Either  frosted  bulbs  should  be  used  or 
the  bulb  should  be  hidden  by  a  shade.  The  brilliant 
tungstens  should  be  inclosed  in  globes.  Ground  glass 
should  be  used  for  frosting;  bulbs  made  partially 
opaque  by  the  application  of  an  outer  coating  are  apt 
to  turn  brown  or  black. 

Where  localized  lighting  is  used,  prismatic  reflectors 
are  of  great  aid  in  directing  the  light  where  it  is  wanted, 
with  as  little  loss  as  possible.  Thus,  on  a  reading  table, 
the  whole  of  the  light  may  be  concentrated  upon  the 
page  instead  of  wasting  much  of  it  on  parts  of  the  table 
where  it  is  of  no  value.  It  is  possible  also  to  distribute 
light  over  the  books  on  an  ordinary  seven-shelf  wall  case 
so  that  the  titles  on  the  lowest  shelf  shall  be  illuminated 
with  precisely  the  same  intensity  as  those  on  the  upper- 
most shelf,  although  five  or  six  times  farther  from  the 
source — a  difference  that  would  ordinarily  entail  a 
weakening  of  the  intensity  by  a  factor  of  25  to  36. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  brightness  and  dim- 
300 


■tl 

Roof  Reading  Room,  St.  Gabriel's  L'auk  Branch,  New  York 

Public  Library. 

Showing  system  of  lighting. 


First  Floor,  St.  Gabriel's  Park  Branch. 

Shnw^inDr  Hvsfpm  nf  licht.infir. 


LIGHTING 

ness  are  relative  terms.  A  surface — the  printed  page  of 
a  book  or  its  lettered  back — will  appear  bright  or  ob- 
scure as  the  eye  moves  toward  it  from  a  darker  or 
lighter  surface.  In  general  illumination,  with  visible 
sources,  it  is  very  difficult  to  avoid  looking  at  these  di- 
rectly, and  immediately  thereafter  almost  any  surface 
will  appear  dark.  In  localized  lighting,  any  expanse 
along  which  the  eye  is  to  travel  must  be  lighted  homo- 
geneously. If  lamps  and  reflectors  are  so  arranged, 
for  instance,  that  alternate  sections  of  a  wall  case  are 
slightly  brighter  than  the  others,  the  latter  will  appear 
dark  to  one  who  is  examining  the  books,  whereas  the 
illumination  would  be  satisfactory  if  the  intensity  along 
the  whole  case  were  the  same,  even  if  its  average  were 
considerably  lower.  This  applies,  of  course,  only  to 
surfaces  where  the  eye  is  to  be  used.  Others  may  and 
should  be  darker,  to  enable  the  eye  to  rest  occasionally. 
In  too  brilliant  general  illumination  there  is  no  place 
to  serve  in  this  way — everything  is  bright,  and  the 
eye  soon  tires. 

Indirect  illumination  by  reflection  from  the  ceiling, 
the  lamps  themselves  being  invisible,  is  very  attractive. 
It  requires  low,  smooth,  dead-white  ceilings  if  the  light 
is  to  be  used  for  reading,  and  bright  sources,  such  as 
tungstens,  must  be  used.  In  the  so-called  semi-indirect 
system  the  suspended  bowls  usually  employed  to  hold 
the  light-sources  are  made  of  translucent  material  so 
that  part  of  the  light  passes  through.  These  are  now 
usually  fitted  with  white  reflectors,  which  throw  much 
of  the  light  downward  without  its  reaching  the  ceil- 
ing. Fixtures  painted  white  to  match  the  ceiling  are 
used  in  some  libraries. 

Reflection  from  the  walls,  of  course,  is  an  important 
301 


.   LIBRARY  BUILDINGS 

feature  in  any  system  of  lighting.  A  library  with  dark 
walls  and  furniture  will  require  a  larger  number  of 
light  sources  of  greater  initial  intensity  for  general  il- 
lumination than  one  where  the  walls  and  fixtures  are 
light  in  color. 

Tube  systems  of  lighting,  where  the  light  is  pro- 
duced by  the  passage  of  an  electric  current  through 
vapor  at  low  pressure,  contained  in  glass  tubing,  are 
occasionally  seen,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  some  of 
them  should  not  be  tried  in  libraries.  The  Cooper- 
Hewitt  mercury  light,  where  the  vapor  in  the  tube 
is  that  of  mercury,  is  objectionable  from  its  weird 
green-blue  color,  though  very  effective  and  cheap.  Red 
sources  may  be  used  with  it  to  correct  the  color.  The 
McFarlan-Moore  system,  which  in  its  present  form 
gives  a  slightly  roseate  or  salmon-pink  light,  is  satis- 
factory in  tint,  but  has  so  far  not  been  employed  in 
any  library  building. 

Other  features  of  library  buildings  not  noted  in 
this  chapter  may  be  found  in  those  on  the  Staff  (staff 
rooms)  and  on  Work  with  Children  (children's  rooms). 


CHAPTER   XXI 
THE  LIBRARY  AS  A  MUSEUM 

The  library  is  not  the  only  institution  that  has  felt 
the  impulse  toward  more  complete  popularization,  de- 
scribed earlier  in  this  book  as  the  **  modern  idea.*'  It 
may  be  clearly  seen,  for  instance,  in  the  best  modern 
museums.  The  up-to-date  museum  has  been  brushing 
the  cobwebs  from  its  specimens  and  from  the  brains  of 
its  custodians,  and  is  as  different  from  the  traditional 
institution  as  the  modern  popular  library  is  from  the 
old-time  musty  collection  of  books. 

James  Duff  Brown  ^  gives  the  following  brief  char- 
acterization of  these  out-of-date  museums,  which  will  be 
recognized  as  a  faithful  portrait: 

'  *  No  doubt  in  some  localities  can  still  be  seen  the 
old-fashioned,  hotchpotch  collection  of  miscellaneous 
lumber  styled  a  museum,  wherein  a  stuffed  walrus  jos- 
tles a  suit  of  armor,  and  local  fossils  and  meteorites  are 
beautifully  mixed  up  with  birds*  eggs,  flint  implements, 
and  coins.  Such  collections  require  only  an  alligator 
and  a  canoe  from  Fiji  on  the  walls  to  be  perfect  speci- 
mens of  the  Wardour-Street  kind  of  museum.  Happily 
this  kind  of  omnium-gatherum  museum  is  rapidly  dying 
out.'* 

No  one  who  is  familiar  with  both  library  and  mu- 
seum in  their  latest  forms  can  doubt  that  there  may  and 

*  Library  Economy,  p.  400. 
303 


THE    LIBRARY   AS   A   MUSEUM 

should  be  the  closest  cooperation  between  them.  No 
book  is  complete  without  illustrations,  and  the  three- 
dimensional  illustrations  in  the  museum  cases  are  vastly 
more  effective  than  the  two-dimensional  pictures  on  the 
leaves  of  the  book  itself.  That  the  educational  use  of 
museum  specimens  involves  considering  them  as  illustra- 
tions to  some  sort  of  text,  instead  of  merely  objects  in- 
teresting in  themselves,  is  shown  by  the  elaboration  that 
the  labels  have  undergone  in  most  of  our  best  museums. 
They  are  no  longer  merely  what  their  name  indicates, 
but  brief  treatises,  for  which  the  attached  specimens 
furnish  the  illustrations.  Indeed,  it  has  been  said  that 
a  good  museum  is  "  a  good  collection  of  labels  illus- 
trated by  appropriate  objects. ' '  The  information  on  the 
best  and  largest  label,  however,  must  necessarily  be 
brief,  hence  the  necessity  of  references  to  works  giving 
a  fuller  treatment  of  the  subject.  These  references  are 
often  placed  near  the  specimen  cases  and  the  books 
themselves  are  to  be  found  in  the  museum's  own  li- 
brary— necessarily  a  limited  collection,  which  needs  to 
be  supplemented  by  the  larger  resources  of  the  neigh- 
boring public  library.  In  like  manner,  the  information 
given  in  the  books  on  the  library  shelves  is  vastly  illu- 
minated by  reference  to  the  specimens  contained  in 
the  museum,  although  from  the  nature  of  the  case 
specific  references,  as  from  specimens  to  books,  are  not 
needed  here. 

This  evidently  close  relationship  between  the  library 
and  the  museum  has  led  some  cities  to  unite  the  two  in- 
stitutions, or  at  least  to  house  them  in  one  building, 
either  under  a  single  board  of  trustees  or  with  two  re- 
lated boards.  Although  this  plan  has  worked  very  well 
in  some  instances,  it  cannot  be  said  that  it  has  com- 

304 


mended  itself  to  the  judgment  either  of  library  or  of 
museum  authorities.  One  or  the  other  institution  is  apt 
to  suffer  from  the  connection — not  infrequently  both  do 
so.  The  relationship  between  the  two  is  best  not  an  ad- 
ministrative connection  any  more  than  that  between 
library  and  school. 

Certain  kinds  of  exhibitions  may  profitably  be  given 
in  libraries — often  as  loans  from  the  museum,  but  these 
are  better  temporary  than  permanent.  They  are  often 
specially  related  to  the  work  of  the  children 's  room,  and 
are  discussed  further  in  the  chapter  on  Work  with  Chil- 
dren. 

What  has  been  said  of  museums  applies  in  equal 
measure  to  art  galleries.  These  are  better  kept  in  sepa- 
rate buildings  and  under  separate  management  in  large 
cities,  although  cooperating  as  closely  as  possible  with 
the  library  in  its  general  work. 

In  small  places  where  there  is  little  money  to  spend 
it  would  be  foolish,  of  course,  to  maintain  a  museum  and 
an  art  gallery  separately.  Institutions  of  this  kind  pos- 
sessing any  real  value  are  seldom  to  be  found  at  all  in 
small  towns,  while  the  smallest  may  possess  a  collection 
of  books  that  is  worthy  of  being  called  a  library.  There 
is  some  excuse  in  such  a  case,  therefore,  for  depositing  a 
few  specimens  or  a  picture  or  two  in  the  local  library 
building.  Great  care,  however,  should  be  exercised  in 
doing  this.  A  general  collection  of  any  educational  value, 
either  in  art,  or  science,  or  industry,  is  here  an  impos- 
sibility. The  only  excuse  for  keeping  pictures  or  mu- 
seum specimens  must  be  that  they  possess  local  interest. 
It  is  quite  possible,  for  instance,  for  a  small  village  to 
own  an  interesting  collection  of  the  birds,  or  the  insects, 
or  the  minerals  found  within  its  borders ;  or  a  collection 

305 


THE    LIBRARY   AS   A   MUSEUM 

of  portraits,  whether  paintings,  prints,  or  photographs, 
of  its  prominent  men ;  or  a  set  of  miscellaneous  souvenirs 
or  memorials  of  some  famous  man  who  was  born  in  the 
place  or  was  otherwise  identified  with  it.  In  places 
where  the  town  authorities  are  not  preserving  with  care 
its  manuscript  records,  the  library  may  offer  to  become 
a.  depositary  for  them  and  to  keep  them  in  repair,  even 
copying  them  when  they  are  in  danger  of  becoming  illeg- 
ible. In  a  small  place  the  library  may  go  as  far  in  such 
directions  as  thv^se  as  its  resources  warrant,  and  even 
without  financial  ability  it  may  stimulate  sufficient  inter- 
est to  secure  volunteer  helpers  for  all  these  purposes. 

In  one  division  of  museum  work,  however,  the  li- 
brary is  obviously  the  proper,  and  indeed  the  only,  place 
for  display ;  no  other  institution  can  take  its  place.  This 
is  when  the  specimens  to  be  displayed  are  themselves 
books.  Some  noted  libraries  have  been  almost  entirely 
book  museums — their  collections  are  not  to  be  read,  but 
to  be  looked  at — and  all  large  libraries  own  considerable 
numbers  of  books  that  come  under  this  category.  Some 
of  these  may  be  displayed  permanently  under  glass, 
while  others  are  securely  packed  away,  to  be  brought  out 
from  time  to  time  for  temporary  exhibition.  The  exhi- 
bitions of  books  and  prints  begun  in  the  Lenox  Branch 
of  the  New  York  Public  Library,  which  as  an  inde- 
pendent institution  was  built  largely  as  a  book  mu- 
seum, have  been  continued  in  the  new  Public  Library 
building.  They  have  taken  a  prominent  place  among 
the  attractions  of  the  city,  and  receive  as  much  notice 
in  the  press  as  is  accorded  to  a  new  opera. 

The  qualities  that  may  give  a  book  interest  for  exhi- 
bition purposes  are  numerous.  They  generally  have  to 
do  simply  with  the  physical  make-up  of  the  book.    Thus 

306 


its  binding  may  be  particularly  fine  or  a  typical  speci- 
men cf  the  work  of  a  great  craftsman;  its  typography 
may  be  noteworthy;  it  may  be  very  old;  it  may  repre- 
sent some  particular  epoch  or  illustrate  some  particular 
method  of  interest  in  the  history  of  printing ;  it  may  in- 
clude some  odd  typographic  error  that  has  made  it  an 
object  of  interest  to  collectors;  it  may  have  belonged  to 
some  famous  man  or  to  some  equally  famous  collection; 
or  it  may  be  simply  very  rare,  without  possessing  any 
other  title  to  our  regard. 

Such  books  have  an  adventitious  value;  they  may  be 
worth  many  thousands  of  dollars  each,  but  not  spe- 
cifically as  books — rather  as  specimens  or  as  curiosities 
which  happen  to  have  the  form  of  books.  The  great 
popular  public  library  can  rarely  afford  to  spend  money 
for  them ;  they  come  into  its  possession,  if  at  all,  usually 
as  gifts,  often  from  some  wealthy  collector  who  has 
given  years  of  his  life  and  a  large  part  of  his  fortune  to 
gather  them.  They  are  then,  of  course,  gratefully 
accepted  and  displayed  in  whatever  way  may  seem  most 
appropriate. 

Another  way  in  which  a  library  may  be  a  book  mu- 
seum, and  on  which  even  the  popular  library  may  profit- 
ably spend  some  money,  is  in  the  exposition,  by  proper 
museum  methods,  of  current  methods  of  bobkmaking.  It 
may  thus  go  as  far  as  its  resources  warrant  toward  in- 
cluding in  its  walls  a  complete  industrial  museum  of  the 
arts  of  paper-making,  ink  manufacture,  press  construc- 
tion and  operation,  typography  and  binding.  Probably 
no  library  has  yet  gone  as  far  as  this,  although  some  have 
devoted  their  attention  to  some  part  of  the  programme, 
such  as  typography  or  binding.  It  would  seem  that  a 
permanent  exhibition  along  this  line  would  be  much 
21  307 


THE    LIBEARY   AS    A    MUSEUM 

more  appropriate  to  a  library  than  a  collection  of  min- 
erals or  insects. 

Even  the  smallest  local  library  may  have  books  that 
are  kept  wholly  or  largely  for  their  interest  as  curiosities. 
These,  just  as  in  the  case  of  the  other  museum  specimens, 
should  be  preferably  books  of  local  interest — connected 
in  some  way  with  the  history  of  the  town  or  with  some 
of  its  eminent  citizens,  as  by  authorship  or  ownership. 
The  library  of  Bowdoin  College  maintains  a  separate 
room  for  editions  and  memorials  of  its  great  alumni 
Nathaniel  Hawthorne  and  Henry  W.  Longfellow.  In 
like  manner,  it  may  be  possible  for  a  small  town  library 
to  keep  on  exhibition  books  written  or  owned  by  some 
eminent  native  or  citizen,  with  manuscript  letters,  por- 
traits, and  other  memorials.  Works  relating  to  the  town 
or  containing  allusions  to  it,  scrapbooks  of  local  history 
or  of  fugitive  articles  and  verses  by  citizens  of  the 
town,  bound  local  periodicals,  local  menus,  programmes, 
posters,  and  the  like,  may  all  form  part  of  such  exhibi- 
tions and  as  time  goes  on  will  make  the  library  a  place 
of  interest,  apart  from  its  store  of  current  books.  Where 
there  is  a  local  historical  society,  of  course  it  will  do 
many  of  these  things,  and  the  public  library  need  not 
duplicate  them. 

A  department  of  the  public  library  that  is  increasing 
in  interest,  and  that  may  be  said  to  be  partly  art  collec- 
tion, partly  repository  of  useful  information  in  picto- 
rial form,  is  the  print  department.  In  such  a  depart- 
ment, which  may  be  possessed  by  the  smallest  library, 
any  picture  made  by  a  reproductive  process  may  find  a 
place,  provided  it  may  be  of  use  to  those  searching  for 
any  kind  of  information.  Its  value  may  be  purely  artis- 
tic, or  it  may  have  no  artistic  value  at  all.    Some  homely 

308 


PRINTS 

and  ill-made  woodcut  may  give  a  faithful  idea  of  the 
style  of  house  inhabited  by  Moldavian  peasants  in  the 
seventeenth  century  or  the  costume  of  an  infantryman 
in  Frederick  the  Great's  army,  or  it  may  be  the  only 
view  extant  of  the  city  of  Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  at  a  partic- 
ular period  of  its  existence.  The  value  of  such  prints 
which  impart  at  a  glance  information  that  could  not  be 
given  in  pages  of  text,  lies  wholly  in  their  proper  clas- 
sification and  availability.  Anyone  who  takes  the 
trouble  to  clip  and  sort  pictures  from  current  weekly 
and  monthly  magazines  for  a  few  years  will  have  a  col- 
lection that  need  not  be  despised,  provided  the  collector 
has  a  quick  eye  for  elements  of  possible  usefulness. 
Costume,  architecture,  local  customs,  forms  of  animal 
and  vegetable  life,  scenery — these  are  but  a  few  of  the 
elements  that  may  give  value  even  to  a  picture  that  was 
intended  by  the  artist  merely  to  amuse.  Such  collec- 
tions are  of  value  to  teachers,  to  newspaper  men,  to  art- 
ists, illustrators,  architects,  and  decorators,  to  scientific 
men  and  to  the  ordinary  citizen  who  wants  to  look  at  a 
picture  of  some  particular  person,  place,  or  object. 
Prints  that  are  works  of  art  may,  of  course,  also  possess 
this  kind  of  practical  value. 

The  subject  that  we  are  discussing  is  closely  con- 
nected with  the  use  of  objects  and  pictures  for  decora- 
tion in  a  library  building.  Probably  no  two  persons 
have  exactly  the  same  ideas  on  this  matter.  Some  have 
concluded  that  the  walls  of  the  library  are  better  off 
without  any  pictorial  decoration  at  all.  This  is  a  reac- 
tion from  the  old  horror  of  leaving  any  portion  of  a  wall 
bare.  In  our  own  houses  the  walls  were  first  papered 
with  some  obtrusive  pattern  and  then  as  many  pictures 
as  possible  were  hung  over  them — whether  paintings, 

309 


THE    LIBRARY   AS    A   MUSEUM 

photographs,  crayon  portraits,  steel  engravings,  etchings, 
or  what  not.  The  choice  or  combination  of  subjects  was 
also  disregarded — ^the  aim  was  simply  to  hang  on  the 
wall  as  many  pictures  as  possible.  The  managers  of  our 
art  galleries  cannot  afford  to  gibe  at  this  kind  of  thing. 
Does  a  sensitive  person  ever  enter  one  of  these  institu- 
tions without  shuddering  at  the  disharmonies  of  color 
tones  and  the  olla  podrida  of  sensations  that  crowd  upon 
him  from  the  walls,  where  all  sorts  of  subjects,  treated 
in  all  sorts  of  manners,  touch  elbows  one  with  another? 
Doubtless  it  is  necessary  to  hang  pictures  in  this  way  in 
a  public  gallery  where  wall  space  is  limited,  but  the 
cause  of  public  art  education  suffers  thereby.  Probably 
many  a  man  who  has  made  up  his  mind  that  he  ''doesn't 
like  pictures,"  and  cannot  be  dragged  into  an  art  mu- 
seum, has  been  confused  and  disgusted  by  what  he  has 
seen  in  some  gallery.  Very  few  people  have  the  ability 
to  make  a  mental  abstraction  of  the  one  picture  that  they 
are  studying,  or  trying  to  enjoy,  in  a  gallery  and  to 
cause  the  surrounding  ones  to  fade  into  nothingness. 
For  most  of  us  the  Japanese  idea  of  one  picture  at  a 
time  would  be  better  in  every  way.  In  the  school  and 
the  public  library,  at  any  rate,  there  is  no  necessity  for 
such  intimate  jarring  and  jostling.  Few  and  good  pic- 
tures should  be  herein  displayed.  In  favor  of  the  ideas 
of  those  who  would  discard  pictorial  wall  decoration  al- 
together it  may  be  said  that  large  flat  spaces  of  proper 
proportions,  tinted  in  restful  tones,  have  a  quiet  dignity 
that  is  coming  more  and  more  to  be  appreciated  in  archi- 
tecture. If  pictures  are  hung  in  such  spaces,  the  sizes 
of  picture  and  space  should  be  well  proportioned.  When 
"  good  "  pictures  are  prescribed,  it  must  not  be  sup- 
posed that  expensive  ones  are  intended.     The  era  when 

310 


MURAL   DECORATION 

all  cheap  pictures  were  bad  has  fortunately  passed.    In 
nature  the  best  is  often  cheapest.    As  Lowell  says: 

'Tis  only  Heaven  is  given  away, 

'Tis  only  God  may  be  had  for  the  asking. 

The  incomparable  beauties  of  God^s  world,  the  forms 
and  colors  of  a  landscape — sky,  clouds,  the  masses  and 
tints  of  foliage;  the  rocky  or  green-clad  hills;  water, 
quiet  or  in  motion,  may  be  freely  seen  and  enjoyed. 
The  two  most  wonderfully  beautiful  things — fire  and 
snow — are  familiar  to  the  poorest  boy.  The  human  face 
divine,  with  its  manifold  changes  of  expression,  may  be 
studied  and  enjoyed  by  all.  Now  these  things,  by  mod- 
ern processes,  may  be  inexpensively  reproduced  in  pic- 
torial form  so  that  they  are  within  the  reach  of  almost 
everyone.  Photographs  and  the  various  kinds  of  photo 
reproduction  abound.  Where  it  is  desirable  to  see  them 
through  an  artist's  eyes  we  have  reproductions  of  the 
paintings  of  great  masters,  or,  more  at  first  hand,  we 
have  simple  colored  lithographs,  "  poster  pictures,'' 
such  as  are  now  imported  from  Germany  at  low  prices, 
but  often  of  astonishing  artistic  excellence,  combining 
beautiful  masses  of  form  and  color  so  deftly  as  to  sug- 
gest the  wonders  of  landscape  much  more  vividly  than 
its  exact  photographic  reproduction. 

In  a  large  library,  mural  painting  has  come  to 
be  considered  almost  the  only  possible  or  appropri- 
ate method  of  wall  decoration.  He  must  indeed  be 
bold  who  ventures  to  disregard  the  weight  of  emi- 
nent authority  that  attaches  to  this  decision,  but  a 
modest  suggestion  may  be  made  that  it  is  a  pity  for 
famous  artists  to  embody  their  deathless  conceptions  in 

311 


THE    LIBRARY   AS   A   MUSEUM 

a  monumental  building  intended  to  stand  while  time  en- 
dures, by  painting  them,  in  colors  that  will  one  day  fade, 
on  plaster  walls  that  will  one  day  crumble  and  crack 
away.  For  a  public  monument,  intimate  connection  of 
decorative  with  structural  features,  sculpture,  and  per- 
haps mosaic,  would  seem  to  be  ' '  indicated, ' '  as  the  ther- 
apists say.  For  structures  that  are  not  monumental, 
however,  there  seems  to  be  no  reasonable  objection  to 
paintings  on  the  walls.  The  trouble  is  that  such  paint- 
ings, to  be  acceptable,  must  be  by  good  artists,  and  that 
the  unique  work  of  a  good  artist  is  expensive.  Nothing 
is  more  disheartening  and  humiliating  than  to  see  an 
ambitious  attempt  at  mural  decoration,  with  allegorical 
figures  representing  the  Genius  of  Jonesville,  and  all  the 
rest  of  it,  in  a  perfectly  good  public  library  building, 
costing,  say,  $50,000.    Such  things,  alas !  exist. 

A  possible  solution  of  the  difficulty  lies  in  a  recent 
invention,  or  adaptation,  made  by  Ralph  T.  Willis,  a 
mural  painter,  and  James  M.  Hewlett,  an  architect, 
whereby,  by  the  skilled  and  intelligent  employment  of 
paper  stencils,  used  with  paint  sprayers  or  so-called 
'*  aerial  brushes,"  it  is  possible  to  make  quickly  and 
cheaply  a  mural  decoration,  with  landscape,  buildings, 
or  even  figures,  of  as  high  grade  of  artistic  excellence 
as  is  possible  with  any  duplicate  picture — say  a  litho- 
graph, an  etching,  or  an  engraving.  When  the  stencils 
have  once  been  made  by  the  artist,  the  production  of 
the  actual  picture  may  be  intrusted  to  less-skilled  hands. 
In  addition,  wall-paper  panels  and  borders  are  now 
made  in  artistic  forms  that  may  be  framed  and  used  for 
decoration.  The  makers'  catalogues  list  numerous  his- 
torical subjects  appropriate  for  libraries. 

So  much  for  sizes  and  processes.  What  shall  be  the 
312 


WALL    PICTURES 

subjects  of  pictures  used  for  wall  decoration  in  libra- 
ries? We  may  proceed  on  one  or  more  of  several  plans. 
(1)  We  may  select  pictures  solely  on  account  of  the 
artistic  value  either  of  themselves  or  their  originals. 
We  may,  for  instance,  buy  a  beautiful  photograph  cr 
photographic  enlargement  for  reasons  entirely  apart  from 
any  interest  that  the  subject  may  possess;  or  we  may 
hang  a  reproduction  of  Raphael's  ''  Sistine  Madonna  " 
or  a  view  of  the  equestrian  statue  of  General  Colleone, 
not  because  we  consider  a  religious  subject  appropriate 
or  regard  Colleone  as  a  character  that  should  be  made 
prominent  in  American  libraries,  but  solely  because  the 
originals  are  great  works  of  art.  For  the  same  reason 
we  may  use  a  picture  of  the  Coliseum  at  Rome  or  of 
the  Parthenon.  (2)  We  may  choose  pictures  that  we 
think  the  frequenters  of  the  library  will  like — photo- 
graphs of  favorite  scenery,  or  of  genre  paintings  such  as 
inspire  admiration  in  the  average  educated  man  or 
woman.  (3)  We  may  select  our  pictures  wholly  with  a 
view  to  educational  results,  displaying  photographs  of 
historical  paintings,  of  well-known  works  of  art  with 
which  the  educated  person  should  be  familiar,  portraits 
of  eminent  writers,  statesmen,  discoverers,  etc.  (4)  We 
may  make  our  wall  collection  as  local  as  possible — por- 
traits of  local  celebrities,  views  of  local  scenery  or  of 
buildings  connected  with  local  history,  drawings  or 
paintings  by  local  artists,  and  so  on. 

It  is  probable  that  a  collection  made  with  an  eye  to 
all  of  these  plans  will  be  most  interesting  and  profitable. 
In  the  first  place,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
ordinary  man  likes  subject,  not  style;  result,  not  the 
method  of  reaching  it.  One  may  be  led  to  appreciate 
and  love  the  art  by  interest  in  the  subject;  hence,  for  a 

313 


THE    LIBRARY   AS   A   MUSEUM 

popular  educational  institution,  subject  should  not  be 
neglected.  There  is  plenty  of  great  art  whose  subjects 
are  interesting  and  more  or  less  familiar.  It  is  probable 
that  of  all  those  who  gaze  at  the  mural  decorations  of 
the  Boston  Public  Library — probably  the  best-known 
wall  paintings  in  the  United  States — the  vast  majority 
pass  over  Puvis  de  Chavannes  's  allegorical  figures  to  fol- 
low with  interest  Abbey's  "  Holy  Grail  "  frieze  or  Sar- 
gent's '*  Prophets  " — paintings  whose  subjects  mean 
something  to  them.  If  some  one  should  find  a  resem- 
blance between  the  Puvis  de  Chavannes  figures  and 
some  well-known  public  character,  probably  public  in- 
terest in  them  would  increase  a  hundredfold.  The  dis- 
covery by  a  Western  writer,  duly  communicated  to  his 
home  pap%r,  that  a  figure  in  a  European  gallery  was  the 
image  of  a  local  politician  of  his  state,  probably  inter- 
ested thousands  of  persons  in  the  picture  who  would 
never  have  heard  of  it  through  its  merit  as  a  work  of 
art.  The  moral  of  all  this,  which  may  not  be  sufficiently 
obvious,  is  that,  since  libraries  are  in  part  institutions 
for  the  education  of  the  great  public,  and  since  the  pub- 
lic is  powerfully  stimulated  and  interested  by  the  sub- 
ject of  a  great  picture,  it  is  well  for  libraries  to  select 
for  wall  decoration  pictures  whose  subjects  will  appeal 
to  their  users.  He  who  looks  long  and  often  on  a  great 
picture  whose  subject  interests  him  seldom  fails,  sooner 
or  later,  to  appreciate  that  the  art  with  which  that  sub- 
ject is  presented  is,  after  all,  the  factor  that  has  held 
his  attention  and  prevented  him  from  tiring  of  the  pic- 
ture. 

Finally,  the  librarian  should  remember  that  his  li- 
brary, if  filled  with  a  few  properly  selected  pictures,  is, 
in  effect,  an  art  gallery,  and  will  contribute  to  its  users' 

314 


ART    IN    THE    LIBRARY 

education  in  the  appreciation  of  art — not,  of  course,  by 
furnishing  a  complete  series  of  historical  examples,  as  a 
great  collection  would  do,  but  by  gradually  forcing  upon 
one  and  all  the  conviction  that  the  way  in  which  a  thing 
is  done  may  be  that  which  makes  it  worth  while.  This 
is  the  cardinal  principle  of  art — the  fact  that  there  is 
something  in  Bastien  Le  Page's  **  Joan  of  Arc,*-  for 
example,  that  there  is  not  in  Smith's  photograph  of  a 
girl  standing  under  an  apple  tree. 


CHAPTEK   XXII 

LIBRARIES  FOR  THE  BLIND 

The  public  library  has  suffered  much  from  the  idea, 
still  prevalent  in  some  circles,  that  it  is  a  charitable  in- 
stitution. This  idea  lingers  longer  about  some  of  its  de- 
partments than  about  others,  and  it  clings  with  especial 
persistence  about  its  administration  of  collections  of 
books  for  the  use  of  the  blind.  Evidently  a  collection 
of  this  sort  should  no  more  be  administered  as  a  charity 
than  should  a  collection  for  the  use  of  any  other  class  of 
persons-  -say  teachers  or  mechanics.  The  blind  have  but 
one  thing  in  common — ^their  inability  to  use  the  one  sense 
that  has  been  chosen  to  serve  as  the  vehicle  of  recorded 
ideas,  as  distinguished  from  those  to  which  temporary 
expression  is  given  in  speech.  It  has  thus  become  neces- 
sary to  select  another  sense  as  such  vehicle,  and  all  teach- 
ers of  the  blind  have  agreed  in  fixing  upon  the  sense  of 
touch.  The  development  of  this  sense  for  the  purpose 
specified  does  not,  however,  create  any  special  mental 
bond  among  blind  persons,  and  we  find  among  them  all 
the  different  mental  and  moral  types  that  may  be  dis- 
covered among  the  seeing.  The  treatment  of  the  blind 
as  a  dependent  class  is  now  coming  to  be  recognized  as 
a  mistake.  The  sooner  they  mingle  with  their  seeing 
fellows,  learn  how  to  take  care  of  themselves,  and  realize 

316 


STYLES  OF  TYPE 

that  what  success  they  may  achieve  must  be  in  spite  of 
their  infirmity,  not  because  of  allowances  that  may  be 
made  for  it,  the  better. 

A  collection  of  books  for  the  blind,  therefore,  should 
be  subject  to  no  more  limitations  than  any  other  collec- 
tion. It  should  not  be  made  with  the  idea  that  the  blind 
desire  one  class  of  literature  more  than  another,  or  that 
one  style  of  type  is  better  for  them  than  another.  Unfor- 
tunately, a  collection  cannot  be  broader  than  the  available 
material,  and  the  ideas  of  makers  of  books  for  the  blind 
have  not  always  been  of  the  broadest.  Some  have  ap- 
parently been  possessed  with  the  idea  that  as  soon  as  a 
person  loses  his  eyesight  he  begins  at  once  to  think  of  his 
latter  end  and  of  no  other  subject.  Others  have  laid 
great  stress  on  educational  literature,  and  in  general, 
until  very  recent  years,  there  has  been  no  effort  to  sup- 
ply blind  persons  with  light  and  cheerful  reading  mat- 
ter— a  sort  of  which  they  certainly  need  as  much  as  the 
seeing. 

Books  for  the  blind  were  originally,  and  are  still, 
largely  issued  by  schools  for  the  blind,  which  have  been 
often  under  denominational  control.  Thus  the  librarian 
has  been  in  much  the  same  situation  as  if  he  were  forced 
to  make  up  his  general  library  from  the  catalogues  of 
the  American  Tract  Society  and  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  Christian  Knowledge.  The  first  and 
still  the  largest  collections  of  books  for  the  blind  are 
those  connected  with  these  institutions,  or  with  societies 
formed  in  connection  with  work  of  the  same  kind.  Some 
of  our  public  collections  have  sprung  from  these,  and 
the  result  is  a  regrettable  limitation,  narrowing  the 
spheres  of  their  usefulness  in  some  such  way  as  a  li- 
brary for  the  seeing  would  be  narrowed  if  it  were  based 

317 


LIBRARIES    FOR    THE    BLIND 

on  an  old  Sunday-school  library,  or  if  it  should  attempt 
to  supply  a  mixed  English,  French,  and  German  popu- 
lation with  French  books  only. 

The  greatest  limitation  arises  from  the  fact  that 
methods  of  reading  by  touch  have  been  independently 
originated  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  or  even  in  dif- 
ferent localities  in  the  same  country.  Each  of  these  has 
been  developed  with  little  regard  for  the  others,  and  the 
result  is  that  each  has  its  special  literature,  its  schools, 
its  teachers,  and  its  warm  advocates.  The  public 
library,  of  course,  cannot  take  sides.  It  must  furnish  its 
blind  with  books  in  the  type  systems  that  they  are  able 
to  read,  just  as  it  must  give  its  seeing  readers  books  in  all 
the  languages  that  they  understand.  Owing  to  the  prox- 
imity of  some  particular  institution,  it  often  happens 
that  the  majority  of  blind  persons  in  and  around  a 
given  town  or  city  read  one  kind  of  type.  The  books 
for  the  blind  in  the  public  library  of  that  city  will  nat- 
urally be  largely  in  this  style  of  type,  whatever  it  may 
be ;  but  only  for  the  same  reason  that  most  of  the  books 
in  a  French  popular  library  would  be  in  the  French 
language. 

Books  for  the  blind  in  American  public  libraries  are 
chiefly  in  three-point  systems — the  Braille,  New  York 
Point,  and  American  Braille — and  in  two-line  systems — 
the  Boston  letter  and  the  Moon  type.  Of  the  two  gen- 
eral types  of  letter,  the  line  type  is  the  older — the  first 
attempt  to  construct  an  alphabet  for  the  blind  being,  as 
was  natural,  in  the  direction  of  large  embossed  Roman 
letters.  Those  who  use  this  system  have  no  new  alpha- 
bet to  learn  (if  they  are  seeing  persons  who  have  lost 
their  eyesight)  ;  but  recognition  of  the  Roman  letter  by 
feeling  the  raised  character  is  extremely  difficult  and, 

318 


STYLES  OF  TYPE 

with  some  persons,  almost  impossible.  The  full  Roman 
or  **  Boston  line  ''  letter  is  now  seldom  used,  its  place 
being  taken  by  an  abbreviated  and  conventionalized  al- 
phabet, based  on  the  Roman,  known  as  "  Moon  type,** 
after  its  inventor,  Dr.  William  Moon,  of  Brighton,  an 
English  teacher. 

The  idea  of  devising  for  the  blind  an  alphabet  of 
entirely  new  characters,  having  nothing  to  do  with  Ro- 
man letters,  originated  with  Louis  Braille,  a  French- 
man. He  constructed  his  letters  of  combinations  of 
raised  dots  or  points,  which  experience  has  shown  are 
easily  recognized  and  discriminated  by  touch.  Any  al- 
phabet constructed  in  this  way  is  denominated  a  **  point 
system,"  and  most  of  the  reading  now  done  by  blind 
persons  is  in  such  systems.  The  original  Braille  type, 
with  modifications,  is  now  used  in  England,  France,  and 
Germany,  and  in  this  country  by  persons  who  have 
learned  to  read  it  abroad  or  who  desire  to  use  European 
books  or  periodicals,  and  especially  European  music.  It 
is  generally  called  here  *'  European  Braille  "  to  distin- 
guish it  from  the  very  considerable  modification  called 
''  American  Braille.'*  New  York  Point  is  a  point  sys- 
tem having  no  resemblance  to  Braille,  except  in  the  fact 
that  it  is  made  up  of  groups  of  raised  dots  or  points.  It 
is  so  named  because  devised  by  the  superintendent  of  the 
New  York  School  for  the  Blind,  Mr.  William  B.  Wait. 

In  this  country  New  York  Point  was  for  many  years 
the  type  most  used  by  the  blind ;  but  recently  American 
Braille  has  been  more  and  more  iemployed  and,  its  advo- 
cates believe,  is  about  to  take  first  place.  An  idea  of 
the  differences  between  these  **  point  systems  *'  may  be 
obtained  from  the  specimens  on  page  320.  This  is 
not  the  place  for  a  detailed  comparison  of  the  systems 

319 


Line  Letter. 

(vrvJ  i-l — l-r'  -3o\.r  j/  all  ^rN^)j--r:>  n 
,  ,."-^uo^  ^v-'o  :;s)js.ojri;  ':»r<i.Ar^  \.r\/r^J 

Very  little  more  is  all  permitted 
yats  tonnac  I,  tser  tonnac  I,  em  ot 
I  cannot  linger  anywhere.  My  spirit 
gnitnuoc  ruo  dnoyeb  deklaw  reven 
house,  mark  me,  in  life  my  spirit  ne 
stimil  worran  eht  dnoyeb  devor  rev 
of  our  money  changing  hole,  and  weary 

Moon  Type. 


g      h      i       j       k      1      m 
•  •    •  •   •       •  •  • 


Original  French  Braille. 


• 


abcdefghijklm 

•      •         •••  •••••         ••••      •      •• 

•  ••      •*      •      •••••         ••#• 

•  •  •   •      •      • 

American  (Revised)  Braille. 

a       b         c        d     e       f         g         hi) 

•  ••  •••••••• 

New  York  Point. 
Tactile  Print  Alphabets  for  the  Blind. 

320 


COMPARISONS 

nor  for  a  complete  presentation  of  the  claims  of  their 
various  advocates. 

The  New  York  Point  is  more  expansible,  since  there  is 
theoretically  no  limit  to  the  horizontal  extent  of  its  let- 
ters. The  advocates  of  Braille  do  not  regard  this  as  an  ad- 
vantage, since  a  letter  confined  to  two  vertical  rows  of  dots 
is,  they  assert,  more  easily  and  quickly  recognized  with 
the  finger.  New  York  Point  takes  up  less  room,  and  is 
the  only  system  in  which  a  complete  dictionary  of  the 
English  language  has  been  published.  In  discussions 
of  this  subject  not  enough  stress  has  been  laid  on  the 
fact  that  systems  of  raised  point  may  be  used  with  either 
of  two  distinct  ends  in  view — quick  reading  and  instruc- 
tion in  language.  In  the  former  case  abbreviation  may 
be  freely  used,  and  there  need  be  no  capitals  and  only 
just  enough  punctuation  to  convey  the  meaning.  In  the 
latter  there  should  be  no  abbreviations,  and  punctuation 
and  capitalization  should  follow  the  accepted  rules.  In 
the  case  of  persons  who  have  become  blind  after  receiv- 
ing their  education  the  former  method  is  best,  but  where 
primary  education  is  being  given  to  blind  children 
through  the  medium  of  raised  characters,  the  latter' 
should  obviously  be  employed.  With  this  distinction  in 
view  it  may  be  noted  that  all  systems  use  abbreviation 
freely  in  most  of  their  publications,  and  that  New  York 
Point  is  more  often  wanting  in  punctuation  and  capital- 
ization than  is  Braille,  although  not  through  the  fault  of 
the  system,  as  it  has  means  of  conveying  both.  A  hear- 
ing in  1909,  given  by  the  Board  of  Education  of  New 
York  City,  at  which  the  advocates  of  both  New  York 
Point  and  American  Braille  presented  the  claims  of  their 
respective  systems,  resulted  in  the  adoption  of  the  latter 
in  the  public  schools  of  the  city. 

321 


LIBRARIES    FOR    THE    BLIND 

From  the  librarian's  point  of  view,  what  is  needed 
is  a  general  agreement — international  if  possible,  but  at 
least  covering  the  whole  United  States — to  adopt  some 
one  system — perhaps  a  new  point  system  combining  the 
satisfactory  features  of  the  chief  existing  systems. 
Agreement  of  this  kind  would  be  worth  the  throwing 
aside  of  all  existing  books  for  the  blind  and  all  the  ma- 
chinery for  making  them.  There  is  yet  time  to  begin  all 
over  again  in  the  right  way.  Fortunately,  there  seems 
to  be  some  prospect  of  such  an  agreement,  a  so-called 
"standard  dot"  having  been  fixed  upon  by  an  Amer- 
ican committee.  This,  however,  is  not  the  same  as  the 
type  adopted  by  a  similar  British  committee.  The 
advocates  of  the  two  chief  point  systems  in  this  coun- 
try see  nothing  but  good  in  their  own  methods  and 
only  inferiority  in  the  others.  Meanwhile  the  public 
library  spends  for  books  in  various  types  money  that 
might  better  be  used  in  extending  its  selection  of  titles. 

It  is  probable,  however,  that,  even  if  the  point  sys- 
tems should  ultimately  be  unified,  some  line  system  like 
the  Moon  would  still  be  required ;  for  persons  who  have 
become  blind  late  in  life,  and  whose  finger  tips  are  not 
sufficiently  sensitive  to  recognize  groups  of  points,  gen- 
erally learn  such  a  system  with  comparative  ease,  and 
it  will  thus  be  necessary  to  retain  it,  or  something  like 
it,  for  their  use.  It  would  not,  however,  be  necessary  to 
duplicate  every  work  in  this  system,  which  would  take 
an  auxiliary  or  subsidiary  place. 

One  reason  why  a  unified  system  of  some  kind  is  de- 
sirable is  the  very  great  size  and  cost  of  books  in  any  em- 
bossed type.  Thus  a  novel  like  Dickens's  *'  David  Cop- 
perfield  "  occupies  six  volumes,  each  14  x  12  x  5  inches, 
in  New  York  Point,  and  about  as  much  space  in  the 

322 


I 


other  systems.  The  expense  of  printing  one  of  these 
books,  although  now  lessened  by  the  use  of  stereotype 
plates,  is  still  large,  as  the  following  table  of  prices 
shows : 

Thackeray,  Henry  Esmond,  3  vols $10.50 

Shakespeare,  King  John   3.00 

Schiller,  Maria  Stuart,  3  vols 9.00 

Kipling,  Day's  Work,  2  vols 7.00 

Scott,  Kenilworth 4.00 

Dickens,  Tale  of  Two  Cities,   3  vols. ..     10.50 

Books  made  by  hand  present  practically  the  same  ap- 
pearance as  those  that  are  "  printed  "  (embossed)  from 
type  or  plates.  Braille  may  be  written  on  an  ordinary 
typewriter  adapted  for  the  purpose;  New  York  Point 
cannot  be  so  written,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  letters 
are  of  different  lengths ;  but  a  simple  machine  called  the 
**  kleidograph, "  having  fewer  keys  than  a  typewriter, 
which  are  depressed  in  certain  combinations,  enables  it 
to  be  written  as  quickly.  Any  point  system  may  be 
pricked  in  paper  with  a  stylus.  Formerly  the  Moon 
type  could  not  be  made  by  hand,  and  it  could  thus  be 
used  only  for  printing,  not  for  writing;  but  a  machine 
of  typewriter  form  of  embossing  the  letters  has  now 
been  put  upon  the  market.  These  various  methods  of 
making  books  by  hand  are  of  great  use  to  public  libra- 
ries. The  principal  sources  of  books  for  the  blind  as 
used  in  this  country  are  now  as  follows: 

New  York  Point. — American  Printing  House  for  the 
Blind,  Louisville,  Ky. 
Xavier   Free    Publication    Society, 
59  E.  83rd  St.,  New  York  City. 
22  323 


LIBRARIES  FOR  THE  BLIND 

American  Braille. — Illinois  School  for  the  Blind,  Jack- 
sonville, 111. 
Perkins  Institution  for  the  Blind, 

Watertown,  Mass. 

Institution  for  the  Instruction  of 

the  Blind,  Overbrook,  Pa. 

European  Braille. — National    Institute    for    the    Blind 

(formerly  British  and  Foreign 

Blind   Association),    224   Great 

Portland  Street,  London,  W. 

Royal  Blind   Asylum   and   School, 

W.  Craigmillar,  Edinburgh. 
Gardner's  Trust  for  the  Blind,  53 
Victoria  Street,  Westminster, 
S.  W.,  London. 
Moon  Type. — The  Moon  Society  (now  a  branch  of  The 
National  Institute  for  the 
Blind).     See  above. 

Taking  all  these  sources  into  account,  the  librarian 
finds  that  he  cannot  always  get  the  books  he  wants  or 
supply  his  readers  with  what  they  demand.  He  may 
supplement  his  stock  or  fill  local  needs  by  handmade  or^ 
typewritten  copies ;  and  a  member  of  the  staff,  in  a  large 
library,  may  occupy  much  of  her  time  in  this  way.  A 
short  story,  of  ordinary  magazine  length,  makes  a  small 
volume,  easy  to  handle,  and  is  usually  very  acceptable  to 
blind  readers.  Such  well-known  stories  as  the  Sherlock 
Holmes  series,  Mary  E.  Wilkins's,  and  the  Uncle  Remus 
tales  can  be  obtained  in  no  other  way. 

Books  for  the  blind  are  handled  by  a  public  library 
in  much  the  same  way  as  those  for  the  seeing.  It  is  com- 
mon to  have  a  separate  department  or  suite  of  rooms  for 
the  purpose ;  but  this  is  not  necessary ;  in  fact,  those  who 
insist  that  the  blind  should  mingle  with  the  seeing  and 

324 


Books  for  the  Blind,  New  York  Public  Library. 


SHELVING 

be  treated  as  much  like  them  as  possible  should  logically 
advocate  giving  out  these  books  at  the  general  charging 
desk.  In  many  libraries  the  blind  are  provided  with  a 
separate  open-shelf  reading  room,  and  sometimes  stories 
are  told  or  books  are  read  aloud  to  them  at  stated  inter- 
vals. Owing  to  the  size  and  weight  of  the  books,  shelv- 
ing for  them  is  necessarily  of  unusual  depth  and 
strength,  and  a  very  few  books  occupy  a  great  deal  of 
space.  A  common  size  for  shelving  is  fifteen  inches  in 
depth  and  fifteen  inches  between  shelves,  in  sections  not 
more  than  three  feet  wide.  Such  shelves  will  hold  about 
three  or  four  volumes  to  the  running  foot,  or  an  average 
of  ten  or  twelve  inches  to  a  title.  Word  for  word,  a 
book  for  the  blind  often  occupies  in  cubic  inches  about 
eight  times  as  much  space  as  a  book  in  ordinary  ink 
type.  A  collection  of  such  books  requires  the  ordinary 
accession  record,  shelf  list,  and  catalogue.  These  are  for 
the  use  of  the  library.  The  catalogue,  of  course,  may  be 
used  by  seeing  companions  of  the  blind  readers.  For 
the  readers  themselves  a  list  in  embossed  type,  kept  up 
to  date  by  the  addition  of  frequent  supplements,  should 
be  made — a  separate  one  for  the  users  of  each  kind  of 
type,  printed  in  the  same  system  as  the  books  listed. 
There  would  appear  to  be  no  reason  why  a  card  cata- 
logue in  embossed  letters  would  not  be  as  useful  to  blind 
frequenters  of  a  library  as  an  ordinary  card  catalogue 
is  to  the  seeing.  Such  catalogues  are  not  common,  but 
one  in  New  York  Point  type  was  made,  as  an  experi- 
ment, in  the  New  York  Public  Library  in  1907.  It  was 
used  somewhat,  but  only  to  satisfy  curiosity,  and  was 
never  popular.  In  such  a  catalogue,  in  order  that  the 
embossed  letters  may  be  freely  accessible  to  the  finger 
tips,  the  bottom  of  the  card  (containing  the  hole  for  the 

325 


I 


LIBRARIES  FOR  THE  BLIND 

rod)  must  be  treated  as  the  top,  and  the  face  of  the 
card,  when  it  is  filed  in  the  tray,  must  be  directed  away 
from  the  user.  In  arranging  the  books  on  the  shelves 
the  first  division  should  be  by  type,  taking  precedence 
even  of  that  by  languages. 

There  are  two  systems  of  musical  notation,  the 
Braille,  which  is  the  same  for  all  varieties  of  this  type, 
and  the  New  York  point,  and  much  such  music  is  cir- 
culated by  libraries.  For  instance,  in  the  circulating 
department  of  the  New  York  Public  Library,  of  15,000 
separate  volumes  or  pamphlets,  5,500,  or  more  than 
one-third,  are  pieces  of  music.  In  books  for  the  see- 
ing the  corresponding  proportion  is  not  more  than  one 
per  cent.  The  blind  are  not  infrequently  accomplished 
musicians  and  learn  several  type  systems.  This  is  par- 
ticularly true  of  Braille,  in  which  a  quantity  of  good 
music  is  issued. 

Some  authorities  lay  stress  on  the  necessity,  or  at 
least  the  value,  of  employing  in  a  library  for  the  blind  a 
librarian  who  is  herself  blind.  This  reminds  one  of  Dr. 
Johnson's  nonsense  line: 

"Who  drives  fat  oxen  must  himself  be  fat." 

The  person  in  charge  of  a  collection  of  books  for  the 
blind  needs  the  full  use  of  her  senses ;  and  although  she 
should  be  able  to  read  all  the  different  systems  of  typog- 
raphy, she  will  be  all  the  more  valuable  for  ability  to 
use  her  eyes  also.  The  argument  that  a  blind  librarian 
is  in  greater  sympathy  with  her  readers  seems  to  be  a 
relic  of  the  idea  that  the  blind  are  separated  or  shut  off" 
in  some  way,  mentally,  from  their  fellows.  Years  of  seg- 
regation may,  it  is  true,  bring  this  about;  but  it  is  not 

326 


CIRCULATION 

desirable.  A  collection  large  enough  to  use  several  as- 
sistants may  well  include  one  blind  person  in  the  num- 
ber, but  the  sole  custodian  of  a  small  collection  should 
have  the  use  of  her  eyesight. 

Owing  to  the  small  number  of  collections  of  books 
for  the  blind  accessible  to  the  public,  many  such  libra- 
ries in  the  United  States  have  thrown  open  their  re- 
sources to  readers  in  distant  parts  of  the  country.  The 
New  York  Public  Library,  for  example,  sends  books 
freely  to  all  blind  readers  in  the  States  of  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  and  Connecticut  and,  on  special  applica- 
tion, to  readers  in  other  parts  of  the  country  who  can 
show  that  the  books  they  desire  are  not  available  in  their 
own  neighborhoods.  Books  for  the  blind  are  carried 
free  of  charge  through  the  mails  to  or  from  a  library, 
but  are  subject  to  the  usual  limitation  of  weight,  so  far 
as  carrier  delivery  is  concerned.  As  most  books  for  the 
blind  are  above  this  limit  of  weight,  the  recipient  must 
call  for  them  at  the  nearest  post  office  or  send  there  for 
them.  Notwithstanding  this  limitation,  an  increasingly 
large  proportion  of  the  circulation  of  books  for  the  blind 
is  through  the  mails.  The  New  York  Public  Library  in 
1908  circulated  12,819  books  for  the  blind,  of  which  no 
less  than  8,558  were  sent  to  their  readers  by  post  and 
returned  to  the  library  in  the  same  way. 

Owing  to  this  free  mailing  privilege,  the  establish- 
ment of  a  central  collection  of  books  for  the  blind  has 
been  advocated.  From  such  a  central  institution  books 
would  go  out  by  post  to  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  it 
would  be  larger  and  more  complete  than  any  existing 
library.  The  advantages  of  such  a  plan  are  manifest; 
but  if  carried  out  it  would  not  take  the  place  of  existing 
collections.     Free  access  to  shelves  is  as  valuable  to  a 

327 


LIBRARIES    FOR    THE    BLIND 

blind  reader  as  to  one  who  has  the  use  of  his  eyes,  and 
there  are  still  large  numbers  of  blind  persons  who  prize 
the  privilege  of  personal  selection  of  books  at  the  library. 
The  central  collection  would  relieve  local  libraries  of 
their  long-distance  mail  orders,  which  they  are  now  fill- 
ing temporarily  and  because  there  is  no  other  agency  to 
take  them  over;  and  in  this  way  it  would  benefit  them 
by  leaving  them  more  free  to  care  for  the  needs  of  local 
readers. 

The  staff  of  some  libraries  includes  a  teacher  who 
seeks  out  uninstructed  blind  adults,  who  are  not  reached 
by  the  schools,  and  teaches  them,  if  they  so  desire. 
Although  such  teaching  is  not  strictly  within  the  sphere 
of  the  public  library  (any  more  than  it  would  be  for  a 
library  containing  French  books  to  offer  free  tuition  in 
French),  it  has  been  rendered  necessary,  or  at  least  de- 
sirable, by  the  failure  of  the  public  educational  authori- 
ties to  furnish  free  instruction  for  the  blind.  Boards  of 
education  in  the  larger  cities  are  now  adding  facilities 
for  giving  instruction  of  this  kind,  and  the  time  may  be 
near  when  this  will  be  the  rule  rather  than  the  excep- 
tion. Even  then,  however,  we  may  expect  that  many 
libraries  will  decide  to  retain  the  services  of  an  in- 
structor, for  the  reason  that  the  mere  offer  of  instruc- 
tion to  a  blind  person  by  no  means  insures  that  advan- 
tage will  be  taken  of  it.  When  a  person  becomes  blind 
late  in  life  he  usually  despairs  of  ever  being  able  to  read 
embossed  type.  It  is  necessary  to  plead  with  him,  to 
quote  instances  of  men  in  his  own  circumstances  who 
have  learned,  or  even  to  bring  such  men  to  relate  their 
own  experiences,  before  he  will  consent  to  begin.  And 
when  the  inevitable  difficulties  prompt  him  to  give  it 
all  up,  some  one  is  needed  at  his  side  to  encourage  him, 

328 


J 


INSTRUCTION 

to  point  out  how  much  progress  he  has  akeady  made, 
and  to  keep  him  at  his  task.  Such  teachers  have  done 
much  to  let  the  light  into  lives  that  would  otherwise 
have  been  dark;  and  the  public  library  has  been  reach- 
ing out  in  so  many  unaccustomed  directions  that  it  can 
ill  afford  to  drop  the  home  teacher  for  the  blind,  where 
it  is  already  availing  itself  of  her  services. 


CHAPTER    XXIII 
TRAINING  FOR  LIBRARIANSHIP 

Whether  librarianship  has  yet  arrived  at  the  dignity 
of  a  profession  is  a  moot  point.  There  is  no  doubt,  how- 
ever, that  it  belongs  to  that  class  of  occupations  that  re- 
quire general  culture,  special  training  in  theory,  and 
practical  experience,  including  skill  in  a  certain  number 
of  manual  operations.  This,  if  it  is  a  profession,  classes 
it  with  medicine  rather  than  with  law.  Of  course,  there 
is  nothing  in  library  work  that  compares  with  surgery 
in  the  degree  of  manual  training  required;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  such  professions  as  the  law  or  the  Church 
require  none  at  all.  In  librarianship,  further,  the  man- 
ual operations  are  largely  restricted  to  the  lower  grades 
of  work,  a  chief  librarian  being  largely  an  administra- 
tor; while  in  surgery  they  become  more  important  as 
the  operator  advances  in  experience  and  grows  in  repu- 
tation. 

Special  training  for  librarianship  was  doubtless  sug- 
gested by  the  work  of  such  professional  schools  as  those 
of  law  and  medicine.  The  first  formal  course  was  or- 
ganized in  the  library  of  Columbia  University,  New 
York,  by  its  librarian.  Dr.  Melvil  Dewey,  in  1887.  Since 
that  time  such  courses  have  multiplied  greatly,  and  they 
may  at  the  present  time  be  divided  into  three  classes: 
library  schools,  summer  schools,   and  training  classes, 

330 


p 


LIBRARY    SCHOOLS 

(1)  Library  schools  may  be  affiliated  either  with  a 
university  o-r  some  other  educational  institution,  or  with 
a  library.  Thus  the  Pratt  Institute  school,  in  Brooklyn, 
is  a  department  of  Pratt  Institute;  the  University  of 
Illinois  school,  the  Syracuse  University  school,  the 
Simmons  College  school,  in  Boston;  the  Western  Re- 
serve school,  in  Cleveland,  are  all  parts  of  the  institu- 
tions whose  names  they  bear.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Southern  Training  School  is  an  adjunct  of  the  Carnegie 
Library  at  Atlanta,  Ga. ;  the  Albany  school,  of  the  New 
York  State  Library ;  the  Pittsburgh  school  for  children 's 
librarians,  of  the  Carnegie  Library  in  that  city,  and  so 
on.  Of  course,  it  is  desirable  that  any  library  school 
should  be  able  to  avail  itself  of  a  working  library  for 
training.  Schools  connected  with  colleges  naturally  use 
the  college  library  for  this  purpose,  but  as  the  training 
thus  afforded  is  not  sufficiently  general,  such  schools  are 
often  affiliated  also  with  the  nearest  public  library.  The 
library  of  Pratt  Institute  not  only  serves  the  Institute 
students,  but  is  also  a  free  public  library,  open  to  all 
the  people  of  Brooklyn.  The  Western  Reserve  school 
uses  the  Cleveland  Public  Library,  the  Syracuse  school 
the  public  library  of  that  city,  and  so  on. 

(2)  Summer  schools  require  little  preliminary  ex- 
planation, their  relation  to  the  longer  and  more  formal 
courses  being  precisely  that  of  a  university's  summer 
schools  to  its  regular  sessions.  They  may  be  carried  on 
by  the  faculty  of  a  school,  as  at  Albany,  by  a  State 
commission,  as  in  Iowa  and  Indiana,  or  by  individual 
librarians;  and  their  proper  function  is  to  provide  in- 
struction for  library  assistants  who  have  time  only  dur- 
ing their  summer  vacations  to  take  a  course  of  this  kind. 
They  are,  of  course,  open  to  the  charge  of  superficiality, 

331 


TRAINING   FOR   LIBRARIANSHIP 

which  is  objectionable  only  when  it  is  mistaken  for  thor- 
oughness. An  assistant  who  has  spent  six  weeks  at  the 
Albany  summer  school  may,  for  instance,  describe  her- 
self as  *'  trained  at  Albany."  This  is  no  fault  of  the 
school,  however. 

(3)  Training  classes  are  local  and  special.  Appren- 
tices were  formerly — and  are  still  sometimes — received 
into  libraries  individually  and  allowed  to  learn  what 
they  could  in  return  for  such  assistance  as  they  could 
give.  The  training  class  originated  in  an  attempt  to 
systematize  this  apprenticeship  on  the  part  of  libraries 
having  much  of  it  to  deal  with.  It  may  also  be  regarded 
as  a  means  of  training  for  the  lower  grades,  while  the 
library  school  trains  for  the  higher. 

Taking  up  the  three  grades  of  instruction  a  little 
more  in  detail,  let  us  glance  again  at  the  library  schools 
proper.  At  the  outset,  zeal  in  the  establishment  of 
schools  far  outran  discretion.  The  story  is  told  of  two 
maiden  ladies  in  the  West,  innocent  of  all  knowledge  of 
libraries,  who  went  to  the  head  of  the  public  library  in 
a  near-by  city  and  asked  for  a  few  minutes  of  his  time 
to  give  them  information  of  his  work,  as  they  were  plan- 
ning to  start  a  library  school.  This  may  be  regarded  as 
typifying  one  extreme. 

It  would  be  difficult  in  brief  space  to  give  an  idea  of 
the  curriculum  of  the  best  library  schools,  and  still  more 
so  to  attempt  any  comparison  between  them.  Most  of 
them  issue  pamphlets  or  circulars  giving  such  informa- 
tion in  detail. 

In  the  New  York  State  school,  which  offers  a  two- 
year  course  for  college  graduates  only,  with  the  degree 
of  B.L.S.  (Bachelor  of  Library  Science),  the  work  of 
each  year  is  divided  into  four  parts — administrative,  bib- 

332 


TRAINING   CLASSES 

liographic,  practical,  and  technical.  The  instruction  is 
by  lectures,  class  practice  work,  discussion,  the  giving  of 
problems,  and  required  reading.  Each  student  is  re- 
quired to  form  a  collection  of  material  on  the  various 
phases  of  library  work  and  to  submit  before  graduation 
an  original  bibliography,  or  reading  list,  representing  at 
least  two  hundred  hours  of  actual  work.  Some  of  these 
are  of  considerable  value. 

The  Pratt  Institute  school,  which  now  offers  a  one- 
year  course,  though  this  has  been  occasionally  supple- 
mented with  an  advanced  course  requiring  a  second  year, 
admits  students  through  an  entrance  examination  of  con- 
siderable difficulty.  Its  course  is  divided  into  adminis- 
trative, technical,  bibliographic,  literary,  historical,  and 
miscellaneous  studies,  with  "  laboratory  work"  in  the 
library.  These  two  courses  are  fairly  typical.  Of 
course,  a  statement  on  paper  by  no  means  enables  one 
to  judge  of  the  standing  or  work  of  a  school.  The  all- 
important  thing  is  the  ability  and  earnestness  of  the 
teaching  staff  and  their  numbers.  Specialization  in  li- 
brary training  has  been  strongly  advocated  of  late  by 
many  librarians.  The  Carnegie  Library  School  of 
Pittsburgh  for  training  children's  librarians  is  an  early 
case,  but  this  is  yet  the  only  case  of  a  special  school, 
though  there  are  such  special  courses  as  that  for  legis- 
lative reference  conducted  by  the  Wisconsin  Library 
Commission.  A  normal  course  for  teachers  of  library 
economy  was  begun  by  the  Pratt  Library  School,  but 
subsequently  abandoned. 

The  training  class,  as  has  been  said,  is  merely  a 
group  of  library  apprentices  whose  work  has  been  uni- 
fied and  systematized.  This  may  best  be  done  in  a  sys- 
tem of  branch  libraries  where  there  is  opportunity  to 

333 


TRAINING  FOR  LIBRARIANSHIP 

give  a  variety  of  practical  work.  The  librarian-in- 
charge  of  a  library  really  serves  as  teacher  of  those 
who  are  under  her  charge,  and  hence  such  a  class  is,  in 
a  way,  analogous  to  the  preceptorial  system  in  a  col- 
lege— at  least,  if  properly  carried  out.  It  is  advisable, 
therefore,  to  place  apprentices  only  at  libraries  whose 
heads  are  likely  to  take  a  personal  interest  in  them  and 
not  regard  their  presence  simply  as  a  bore.  The  kinds 
of  work  that  should  be  given  them  to  do  are,  of  course, 
prescribed  by  the  instructor  at  headquarters ;  and  they 
should  meet  the  instructor  at  least  once  a  week  for  a 
comparison  of  experiences  and  for  lectures.  Members 
of  the  library  staff  may  be  utilized  as  lecturers,  and  in 
a  large  library  a  teaching  force  of  considerable 
strength  may  thus  be  organized.  This  is  a  good  thing 
not  only  for  the  class,  but  for  the  lecturers  themselves. 
So  long  as  the  conditions  of  employment  in  libraries 
remain  as  they  are  now,  there  will  probably  continue  to 
be  room  for  the  three  kinds  of  training  agencies  that 
have  been  described.  Possibly  the  school  with  its 
formal  course,  followed  by  the  bestowal  of  a  degree,  may 
be  restricted  to  college  graduates,  as  is  now  the  case  in 
several  instances.  The  training  school  would  then  be 
open  to  high-school  graduates  and  the  summer  school  to 
library  assistants  actually  in  employment.  At  present 
the  number  of  library  assistants  having  formal  training 
is  proportionately  small.  Graduates  of  library  schools 
go  at  once  into  the  higher  grades,  and  the  best  soon  take 
charge  of  small  town  or  city  libraries  or  of  branches  in 
some  large  system.  Of  124  new  appointments  made  in 
the  circulating  department  of  the  New  York  Public  Li- 
brary in  nine  months  ending  Oct.  1,  1914,  including  the 
staffs  of  all  of  branch  libraries,  43  were  library-school 

334 


CONDITIONS  OF  EMPLOYMENT 

graduates,  25  coming  from  the  library's  own  training 
school,  32  had  taken  the  library's  probationary  test,  13 
came  in  as  substitutes,  20  were  appointed  from  other  li- 
braries, and  16  were  reappointments  of  former  staff 
members.  Before  the  American  Library  Association 
in  1902  the  writer  of  this  volume  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that,  although  library  schools  aim  to  reach  the  same 
footing  as  regards  training  for  the  library  profession 
that  is  occupied  by  our  medical  and  law  schools,  this 
condition  of  affairs  has  not  yet  been  reached.  His  con- 
clusions, at  the  time,  were  attacked,  but  he  has  seen  no 
good  reason  to  modify  them,  and  they  remain  substan- 
tially true  at  the  present  time.  They  were,  in  brief,  that 
library  training  is  now  in  the  same  stage  in  which  medi- 
cal and  legal  training  were  at  the  time  when  medical 
schools  and  law  schools  began  to  be  established.  Previ- 
ous to  that  time  training  had  been  chiefly  by  apprentice- 
ship. A  graduate  in  medicine  or  in  law  thus  occupied 
a  conspicuous  position,  owing  to  the  rarity  of  his  kind, 
and  he  stepped  at  once  into  prominence  in  his  profes- 
sion. To-day  we  are  suffering  from  a  plethora  of  agen- 
cies of  legal  and  medical  training,  and,  instead  of  as- 
suming at  once  a  position  where  he  can  earn  a  compe- 
tence, the  young  medical  or  law  student  must  work  for 
years,  sometimes  for  nothing,  sometimes  for  a  pittance, 
before  he  becomes  self-supporting.  There  is  no  doubt 
that,  although  'this  is  hard  on  the  young  doctors  and 
lawyers,  it  is  better  for  the  public.  It  is  unavoidable 
that  young  laborers  in  any  profession  should  work  up 
from  inefficiency  through  experience  to  ability,  but  it  is 
scarcely  fair  that  the  public  should  pay  them  full  wages 
while  they  are  gaining  that  experience.  That  library 
training  is  still  in  the  earlier  of  the  stages  above  de- 

335 


TRAINING   FOR   LIBRARIANSHIP 

scribed  is  due  not  so  mu(^h  now  to  the  paucity  of  schools 
as  to  a  temporary  abnormality  in  the  demand  for  gradu- 
ates, due  to  the  expansion  of  library  work  in  the  United 
States — to  a  constant  increase  in  the  number  of  libraries 
and  to  growth  of  individual  institutions,  as  well  as  to 
rise  in  the  standards  of  librarianship.  This  state  of 
things  will  not  continue,  and  when  it  ceases  we  shall 
doubtless  find  that  experience  will  be  demanded  as  sup- 
plementary to  training  before  remunerative  employment 
— not  the  slight  experience  gained  in  a  few  weeks  or 
months  in  connection  with  some  course  of  training,  but 
experience  comparable  to  that  undergone  by  the  young 
medical  graduate  in  his  hospital  or  the  young  lawyer  in 
a  law  office.  In  the  discussion  to  which  allusion  has 
been  made  above  it  was  pointed  out  that  the  material 
rewards  of  the  successful  doctor  or  lawyer  may  be  very 
great  compared  with  those  of  the  successful  librarian, 
and  that  the  former  could  therefore  afford  to  wait  longer 
for  them.  This  is  true,  of  course.  The  salary  question 
has  been  discussed  in  Chapter  XIV,  but  it  may  be  well 
here  to  take  up  one  or  two  points  that  have  especial 
bearing  on  library  training.  The  successful  lawyer 
earns  far  more  than  the  best-paid  librarian.  And  yet 
that  lawyer,  when  he  graduated  from  the  law  school, 
was  esteemed  to  be  worth  almost  nothing,  until  he  had 
gained  a  few  years'  experience.  Just  how  much,  then, 
should  a  librarian,  whom  the  public  pays  less  at  his  best, 
be  worth  under  the  same  circumstances?  Rather  less 
than  more,  it  would  seem.  By  the  time  that  library 
training  has  reached  the  second,  or  more  stable,  period 
mentioned  above,  it  is  possible  that  the  popular  estimate 
of  the  economic  worth  of  librarianship  will  also  have 
risen,  and  with  it  the  whole  scale  of  salaries.    The  com- 

336 


parison  of  a  salaried  position  like  a  librarian's  with  the 
work  of  a  doctor  or  lawyer  who  lives  by  fees  is,  per- 
haps, unjust.  The  closest  comparison  is  with  the 
teacher,  who,  like  the  librarian,  now  begins  to  earn  a 
salary  immediately  upon  graduation.  A  recent  esti- 
mate makes  it  probable  that  for  the  first  ten  years  of 
work  the  aggregate  amount  earned  by  teachers  and  by 
librarians  is  sensibly  the  same.  Afterwards,  however, 
the  former  earn  much  more,  until,  in  some  cases,  they 
may  receive  several  times  as  much  as  librarians  of  the 
same  grade  and  length  of  service.  This  means  that, 
while,  on  the  whole,  the  value  of  teaching  is  rated 
(rightly  or  wrongly)  by  the  public  as  much  greater  than 
that  of  librarianship,  the  early  rewards  of  the  latter  are 
disproportionately  great,  which  is  the  same  conclusion 
that  has  already  been  reached.  These  thoughts  are 
forced  upon  any  librarian  of  a  large  library  who  is  try- 
ing to  raise  his  staff  to  the  highest  standard  of  efficiency 
and  to  do  it  without  overdrawing  bis  salary  appropria- 
tion. He  is  chagrined  to  find  that  he  can  employ  so  few 
graduates  of  library  schools,  and  often  to  realize,  when 
he  has  employed  them,  that  he  is  paying  for  mere  school 
training  a  salary  tjiat  should  be  given  only  when  expe- 
rience is  offered  in  addition.  It  seems  to  be  true  that  a 
library-school  graduate  more  often  expects  to  step  at 
once  into  a  place  that  should  require  experience  than 
does  a  medical  or  legal,  or  even  a  normal-school  gradu- 
ate. This  is  certainly  not  to  depreciate  the  work  or 
value  of  library  schools.  In  them  lies  the  hope  of  the 
library  for  the  future. 

Even  more  important,  however,  than  the  training 
function  of  schools  and  classes  is  their  selective  function. 
The  confidence  that  one  may  feel  in  employing  a  gradu- 

337 


TRAINING   FOR   LIBRARIANSHIP 

ate  of  a  first-class  library  school  arises  not  so  much  from 
a  knowledge  of  the  course  of  instruction  through  which 
he  has  passed  as  in  the  certainty  that,  were  he  not  fit 
for  employment,  he  would  either  have  failed  to  gain  an 
entrance  to  the  school  or  would  have  dropped  out  before 
graduation.  Similarly,  the  instruction  given  to  appren- 
tices or  members  of  a  training  class,  important  as  it  is, 
may  be  regarded  as  secondary  to  the  sifting  process 
through  which  they  go  during  their  apprenticeship. 
The  first  question  that  should  be  asked  of  a  course  of 
training  for  librarianship  should  be:  Is  it  so  framed  as 
to  exclude  absolutely  the  unfit?  And  among  the  unfit 
should  be  included  those  unfitted  for  library  work  not 
only  by  lack  of  general  or  special  education,  or  lack  of 
ability  to  acquire  it,  but  also  by  reason  of  lack  of  culti- 
vation, ill-temper,  tendency  toward  disobedience,  lazi- 
ness, want  of  tact,  and  so  on.  The  second  question 
should  be :  Is  the  course,  or  is  the  method  of  selection  of 
those  who  are  to  take  it,  so  made  that  not  only  will  the 
unfit  be  excluded,  but  the  fit  will  be  attracted?  Our 
methods  of  negative  selection  are  much  more  advanced 
and  more  thorough  than  those  of  positive  selection. 
And,  indeed,  it  is  vastly  easier  to  shut  out  the  unfit  than 
to  select  and  gather  the  fit.  Exclusion,  however,  is  of 
little  value  unless  there  is  a  saving  remnant.  A  process 
that  is  of  the  highest  value  when  applied  to  a  mixture 
of  good  and  bad  is  worse  than  useless  when  applied  to  a 
collection  from  which  the  good  is  altogether  absent. 
Hence  the  great  need  of  library  training  to-day  (and  it 
shared  with  all  systems  of  training  for  occupations)  is 
a  feature  that  will  attract  those  who  are  eminently  fit  to 
become  librarians.  At  present,  librarians  are  drawn 
largely  from  the  body  of  those  who  chiefly  turn  to  teach- 

338 


iii«^  as  a  means  of  support;  and,  as  the  salaries  of  teach- 
ers are  higher,  grade  for  grade,  than  these  of  librarians, 
there  is  danger  that  those  who  enter  library  work  will 
consist  for  the  most  part  of  those  who  are  "  left  over,'* 
in  one  way  or  another,  from  the  teaching  profession. 
When  this  danger  is  recognized,  the  remedy  that  is  usu- 
ally proposed  is  an  increase  of  library  salaries  up  to  the 
point  where  teaching  will  cease  to  be  financially  at- 
tractive. No  one,  certainly  no  librarian,  would  be  likely 
to  enter  an  objection  here;  but,  after  all,  this  proposal 
loses  sight  of  the  fact  that  compensation  for  different 
employments  must  always  be  different,  and  that  any 
abnormal  variations  which  are  artificially  prevented 
from  adjusting  themselves  result  to  the  disadvantage  of 
the  more  highly  paid  occupations  rather  than  to  the 
others.  For  instance,  if  for  any  reason  the  wages  of 
plumbers  should  increase  threefold — say  by  unprece- 
dented activity  in  building — numbers  of  unfit  and  badly 
trained  persons  would  doubtless  be  attracted  to  this  em- 
ployment. The  natural  result  would  be  a  drop  in  wages, 
due  to  competition;  but  if  they  were  artificially  main- 
tained, perhaps  by  the  endowment  of  some  ill-advised 
philanthropist,  the  result  would  be  a  permanent  fall  in 
the  average  ability  of  plumbers.  So  the  fact  that  the  sal- 
aries of  teachers  are  higher  than  those  of  librarians  will 
attract  to  the  teaching  profession  all  those,  both  fit  and 
unfit,  who  regard  money  as  the  primary  object.  Those 
who  remain  in  the  library  profession  will  be,  first,  those 
who  are  unfit  for  teaching  and,  second,  those  whose  emi- 
nent fitness  for  librarianship  is  so  reflected  in  their  love 
for  it  that  they  prefer  to  remain  in  it  even  at  the  lower 
rate  of  compensation.  We  desire  to  discourage  the  for- 
mer class  and  to  attract  and  encourage  the  latter.  It  is 
23  339 


TRAINING   FOR   LIBRARIANSHIP 

well  to  equalize  compensation,  if  it  can  be  done ;  but  this 
will  certainly  not  bring  about  the  desired  result.  What 
should  be  done  is  to  make  sure  that  all  those  who  find  it 
necessary  to  earn  their  own  living  by  teaching,  by  li- 
brary work,  or  in  some  profession  of  similar  grade,  shall 
be  thoroughly  informed  regarding  librarianship ;  the 
kind  of  work  that  is  required  in  libraries,  its  privileges, 
and  its  advantages  to  an  intelligent  and  cultured  man 
or  woman.  That  there  is  at  present  no  such  systematic 
effort  to  reach  educated  persons  no  one  will  probably 
deny — librarianship,  in  other  words,  is  deficient  in  prop- 
aganda. 

And  not  only  is  there  lack  of  information  on  these 
points,  but  there  is  much  misinformation.  There  seems 
to  be  a  general  impression,  as  all  librarians  who  have 
talked  much  with  candidates  for  employment  will  tes- 
tify, that  work  in  libraries  is  genteel,  easy,  and  light, 
being  specially  fitted  for  the  aged,  the  infirm,  and  for 
those  whose  unexpected  accession  to  the  ranks  of  the 
toilers  renders  hard  labor  distasteful  to  them.  There  is, 
it  is  true,  another  class  of  persons  in  whose  view  library 
work  is  largely  a  menial  employment,  and  fitted  for 
young  women  having  such  education  and  cultivation 
(but  not  ability)  as  would  suffice  to  rank  them  as  do- 
mestic servants. 

These  may  be  extreme  statements,  but  in  one  direc- 
tion or  the  other  these  forms  of  misapprehension  are  apt 
to  tincture  the  ideas  of  the  public  about  librarianship. 
They  are  favored  by  the  fact  that  various  kinds  of  libra- 
ries exist,  both  in  quality  and  grade.  There  are  still  li- 
braries where  the  custodian  may  sit  all  day  and  read  or 
write,  being  undisturbed  by  borrowers.  There  are  oth- 
ers where  the  service  is  largely  manual,  and  where  any- 

340 


one  who  can  paste  labels  and  place  books  on  the  shelves 
is  accepted  as  an  assistant.  There  is  all  the  more  reason 
lor  a  well-considered  propaganda  that  shall  teach  the 
public  to  discriminate  between  the  typical  and  the  un- 
usual, between  the  good  and  the  bad. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

ORGANIZATIONS  OF  LIBRARIANS 

American  librarians  have  organized  in  various  ways  I 
for  mutual  aid,  for  the  discussion  of  questions  bearing 
on  their  work,  and,  incidentally,  for  social  intercourse. 
Such  organizations  may  be  divided  into  four  general 
classes.  In  the  first  class,  and  admittedly  at  the  head,  is 
the  American  Library  Association,  the  general  and  na- 
tional organization.  Next  we  have  the  state  associations, 
varying  in  membership  and  importance  and  sometimes 
nonexistent.  Thirdly,  come  the  library  clubs,  usually 
covering  a  single  city,  but  sometimes  a  large  territory, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  numerous  library  clubs  in  New 
York  or  the  Bay  Path  Library  Club  in  Massachusetts. 
Fourthly,  we  have  organizations  of  special  workers, 
either  national  or  local,  many  of  the  former  affiliated 
with  the  American  Library  Association.  Such  are  the 
National  Association  of  State  Librarians,  the  League  of 
Library  Commissions,  and  the  recently  formed  Special 
Libraries  Association.  Here,  too,  perhaps  should  be 
placed  the  American  Library  Institute,  consisting 
chiefly  of  the  heads  of  libraries,  whose  organization  and 
aims  might  place  it  in  a  class  by  itself.  Besides  these, 
there  are  organizations  of  the  staffs  of  single  libraries, 
and  also  temporary  meetings,  without  permanent  organ- 
ization, as  in  the  case  of  library  institutes,  held  for  in- 
struction. 

342 


THE    AMERICAN    LIBRARY    ASSOCIATION 

In  fact,  these  organizations  are  so  numerous  that 
some  librarians  have  thought  that  their  formation  has 
been  overdone.  If  an  assistant  should  attend  the 
monthly  meeting  of  her  own  staff,  that  of  her  local  li- 
brary club,  at  the  same  interval,  take  several  days  off 
for  the  state  meeting,  and  a  week  for  that  of  the  Ameri- 
can Library  Association,  besides  going  to  the  alumni 
meeting  of  her  library  school  and  an  occasional  insti- 
tute, she  would  have  scant  time  left,  it  would  appear, 
for  her  regular  duties.  This  is,  of  course,  an  exaggera- 
tion, for  an  assistant  rarely  attends  even  the  majority 
of  these  meetings,  nor  would  her  duties  allow  her  to  do 
so.  Most  libraries  send  one  member  of  the  staff  to  the 
annual  meetings  of  the  American  Library  Association, 
paying  all  of  the  delegate's  expenses;  some  may  send 
two  or  three  such  delegates.  Many  libraries  give  the 
time  to  attend  any  professional  meeting,  provided  ab- 
sence does  not  mean  trouble  or  expense  to  the  library,  but 
this  limitation  lessens  attendance  very  much. 

The  American  Library  Association  was  organized  in 
Philadelphia  on  October  6,  1876,  following  a  national 
conference  of  librarians  held  in  connection  with  the 
Centennial  Exposition  of  that  year.  This  was  not  the 
earliest  convention  of  the  kind  in  this  country.  In  1853 
a  conference  of  eighty  librarians  and  others  interested 
in  bibliography  was  held  in  New  York,  largely  as  a  re- 
sult of  the  efforts  of  Prof.  Charles  C.  Jewett,  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  who  was  elected  president  of 
the  conference.  At  the  close  of  the  sessions  it  was  re- 
solved **  that  this  convention  be  regarded  as  prelimi- 
nary to  the  formation  of  a  permanent  librarians'  asso- 
ciation." A  committee  was  appointed  to  effect  an 
organization,  but  there  was  no  subsequent  meeting  until 

343 


ORGANIZATIONS    OF   LIBRARIANS 

twenty-three  years  later,  when  the  Philadelphia  confer- 
ence, mentioned  above,  met  in  response  to  a  call  signed 
by  prominent  librarians  and  adopted  the  first  constitu- 
tion of  the  American  Library  Association,  enrolling  103 
members.  The  proceedings  filled  101  pages  of  the  Li- 
brary Journal^  whose  first  number  had  just  been  issued, 
and  which  served  as  the  Association's  official  mouthpiece 
until  the  establishment  of  its  own  Bulletin  in  1907.  The 
organization  of  the  Association  attracted  attention 
abroad,  and  the  result  was  the  assemblage  of  an  interna- 
tional librarians'  conference  in  London  in  1877  and  the 
founding  of  the  Library  Association  of  the  United 
Kingdom.  John  Winter  Jones,  Librarian  of  the  British 
Museum  and  president  of  the  conference,  said  in  his 
opening  address: 

"  The  idea  of  holding  a  conference  of  librarians 
originated  in  America — in  that  country  of  energy  and 
activity  which  has  set  the  world  so  many  good  exam- 
ples." 

Since  its  organization  in  1876  the  Association  has 
held  yearly  conferences,  with  the  exception  of  the  years 
1878  and  1884.  The  attendance  has  varied  from  32  in 
the  Catskills,  in  1888,  to  1,386  at  Asbury  Park,  N.  J.,  in 
1916,  being  largely  dependent  on  locality.  A  list  of 
meeting  places  appears  in  the  Appendix,  from  which  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  conferences  have  been  held  in 
widely  separated  places.  Increase  in  the  membership, 
which  in  1916  had  reached  4,124,  has  made  necessary 
some  changes  in  organization.  As  originally  constituted, 
the  Association  had  an  elective  Executive  Board  of  five, 
from  which  the  officers  were  chosen  and  which  acted  for 
the  Association  in  the  intervals  between  meetings.  In 
1893  a  council  of  twenty  members  (afterwards  increased 

344 


HEADQUARTERS 

to  twenty-five),  **  to  act  as  an  Advisory  Board/'  was 
constituted.  Its  members  were  first  elected,  four  at  a 
time,  from  eight  nominees  presented  by  the  body  itself; 
afterwards  without  any  such  restriction.  The  officers 
were  chosen  directly  by  the  Association,  and  collectively 
(with  the  retiring  president)  constituted  the  Execu- 
tive Board.  An  unsuccessful  effort  was  made  in  1895  to 
take  the  election  of  officers  from  the  Association.  In 
1909  the  Executive  Board  was  again  made  elective  and 
the  Council  was  greatly  increased  in  numbers  by  adding 
to  the  twenty-five  members  chosen  by  the  Association 
twenty-five  elected  by  the  Council  itself,  and  as  ex- 
officio  members  all  members  of  the  Executive  Board, 
ex-presidents  of  the  Association,  and  presidents  of  affili- 
ated societies.  The  secretary  and  treasurer  were  made 
appointive  officers.  The  last  change  was  in  some  meas- 
ure dependent  on  two  events — the  establishment  of  the 
American  Library  Institute,  as  explained  elsewhere  in 
this  chapter,  and  the  opening  of  permanent  official  head- 
quarters for  the  Association.  After  a  discussion  lasting 
for  several  years,  such  headquarters  had  been  opened 
tentatively  in  Boston  in  1906,  in  conjunction  with  the 
offices  of  the  Publishing  Board,  and  placed  in  charge  of 
an  executive  officer.  In  1908  they  were  temporarily 
discontinued,  owing  to  lack  of  funds,  and  in  1909  an 
offer  from  the  Chicago  Public  Library  to  place  at  the 
Association's  disposal  for  this  purpose  space  in  its  li- 
brary building  was  accepted.  These  quarters  are  now 
occupied,  and  are  in  charge  of  the  Association's  perma- 
nent secretary,  who,  under  the  revised  constitution,  is  a 
salaried  officer,  appointed  by  the  Executive  Board. 

Headquarters  are  open  daily  from  9  a.m.  to  5  p.m., 
and  all  members  of  the  Association  are  invited  to  use  the 

345 


ORGANIZATIONS  OF  LIBRARIANS 

rooms  and  to  have  mail  sent  to  them  (No.  78  East 
Washington  St.)  when  visiting  Chicago.  Libraries  are 
expected  to  use  the  offices  as  a  bureau  of  information 
on  any  subject  and  to  refer  to  the  collections  there: 
gathered,  which  include  a  collection  of  library  plans 
and  one  of  library  appliances  in  general. 

The  official  headquarters  is  also  the  office  of  the  Pub- 
lishing Board,  one  of  the  Association's  most  active  and 
useful  adjuncts.  This  was  organized  in  1886  as  a  sec- 
tion of  the  Association.  In  1900  it  was  changed  to  a 
board  of  five  members,  appointed  by  the  Executive 
Board,  and  in  1909  it  was  specified  that  at  least  one 
member  should  also  be  a  member  of  the  Executive 
Board.  The  board's  work  was  greatly  extended  in  1902 
by  a  donation  of  $100,000  from  Andrew  Carnegie,  the 
income  of  which  is  to  be  used  in  preparing  and  publish- 
ing library  aids.  This  and  other  smaller  sums  are  held 
and  administered  by  three  elected  trustees.  The  publi- 
cations of  the  board  are  sold,  like  those  of  any  publish- 
ing house,  largely  to  librarians.  They  include  lists, 
guides,  indexes,  catalogues,  "  library  tracts,"  and  sev- 
eral series  of  printed  catalogue  cards.  It  also  issues  the 
A.  L.  A.  Book  List  and  the  A.  L.  A.  Bulletin,  the  Asso- 
ciation's organ,  established  in  1907,  one  number  of 
which  includes  the  Proceedings  and  another  the  Hand- 
book. The  policy  of  organizing  sections,  begun  in 
1886,  was  continued  by  the  establishment  of  the  Col- 
lege and  Reference  Section  in  1889,  the  Trustees'  Sec- 
tion in  1890,  the  Catalogue  Section  in  1900,  the  Chil- 
dren's Section  in  1900,  the  Training  Section  in  1909, 
the  Agricultural  Libraries  Section  in  1911,  and  the 
School  Libraries  Section  in  1915.  Affiliated  societies, 
which  resemble  sections,  except  that  they  have  an  in- 

346 


AFFILIATED    SOCIETIES 

dependent  organization,  are  the  National  Association 
of  State  Libraries  (organized  first  as  a  section  of  the 
Association  in  1898),  the  League  of  Library  Commis- 
sions, the  American  Association  of  Law  Libraries,  and 
the  Special  Libraries  Association.  These  meet  with  the 
Association,  and  their  proceedings  are  published  to- 
gether with  those  of  the  larger  body.  State  Library 
Associations  are  now  also  admitted  to  affiliation,  and 
in  1916  nineteen  such  bodies  were  represented  in  the 
Council.  At  a 'Conference  of  the  Association  there  are 
three  or  four  general  sessions  and  two  or  three  of  each 
of  the  sections  and  affiliated  societies,  several  of  which 
may  assemble  at  the  same  time  in  separate  meeting 
places. 

Membership  in  the  Association  has  always  been  open 
practically  toeveryone  interested  in  library  work.  Ever 
since  the  formation  of  the  body  certain  of  its  members 
have  felt  that  such  open  membership  was  a  mistake  or, 
at  any  rate,  required  modification,  and  this  feeling  has 
been  largely  at  the  bottom  of  various  attempts,  success- 
ful and  unsuccessful,  to  revise  or  amend  the  consti- 
tution— the  establishment  of  a  council,  efforts  to  restrict 
the  voting  power  of  the  members,  and  finally  the  forma- 
tion of  the  American  Library  Institute,  as  described 
farther  on   in  this  chapter. 

The  annual  conferences  last  usually  about  a  week, 
and  include  social  events  of  various  kinds,  besides  the 
usual  addresses,  papers,  and  discussions.  It  has  been 
felt  of  late  years  that  the  assembling  of  the  Association 
annually  in  different  parts  of  the  country  was  hardly 
enough  to  make  it  truly  national  in  scope  and  to  inter- 
est librarians  throughout  the  United  States  in  its  aims 
and  work.  At  one  time  it  was  planned  to  hold,  besides 
the    annual    conference,    district    meetings    in    other 

347 


OEGANIZATIONS  OF  LIBRARIANS 

parts  of  the  country.  This  plan  was  not  carried  out, 
but  as  an  alternative,  beginning  in  1907,  the  Associa- 
tion has  frequently  sent  delegates  to  represent  it  at 
numerous  state  meetings,  especially  in  the  Middle 
"West.  If  membership  is  to  continue  free  to  all,  it 
should  doubtless  be  as  large  as  possible,  and  as  wide 
an  area  as  may  be  should  be  well  represented  in  it. 

At  present,  membership  includes  three  classes — indi- 
viduals, whether  annual  members  or  life  members,  and 
institutions.  Individual  members,  paying  annual  dues 
of  $2,  receive  the  Bulletin  free  and  enjoy  special  travel 
and  hotel  rates  at  conferences.  Institutions  as  members, 
who  pay  $5  annually,  receive  also  the  American  Library 
Association  Book  List,  and  may  send  to  conferences  del- 
egates with  the  privileges  of  individual  members.  Indi- 
vidual members  may  become  life  members,  exempt  from 
dues,  on  payment  of  $25. 

The  state  library  associations  have  taken  a  greater 
or  less  part  in  library  affairs  within  their  respective 
states  according  to  the  ideas,  ability,  and  energy  of 
those  who  have  organized  and  administered  them.  The 
New  York  Library  Association  was  avowedly  formed  to 
do  for  the  State  what  the  New  York  (City)  Library 
Club  had  been  doing  for  the  city — that  is,  to  increase 
mutual  intercourse  among  librarians  by  discussion  and 
social  meetings.  Thus,  although  it  is  one  of  the  largest 
of  the  State  associations  and  its  week-long  annual  confer- 
ences have  become  second  in  importance  to  no  other 
except  that  of  the  American  Library  Association,  being 
attended  by  many  librarians  from  distant  states,  it  has 
not  taken  the  part  of  adviser  of  the  State  authorities 
in  library  matters  so  actively  as  have  some  of  its 
younger  Western  sisters.    In  some  states  the  state  asso- 

348 


STATE    ASSOCIATIONS 

ciations  have  entered  into  active  campaigns  for  the  en- 
actment of  state  library  laws,  for  the  creation  of  library- 
commissions  and  the  appointment  of  expert  and  efficient 
commissioners,  for  the  requirement  by  law  of  licenses 
for  librarians  as  well  as  for  teachers,  and  so  on.  In 
New  York  the  State  library  authorities,  who  existed  be- 
fore the  Association  did,  took  an  active  part  in  forming 
it,  and  in  its  early  years  largely  shaped  its  action.  The 
Association  began,  several  years  ago,  to  hold  library  in- 
stitutes for  the  instruction  and  encouragement  of  libra- 
rians of  small  libraries  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  and  the 
management  of  these  has  now  been  taken  over  by  the 
State,  which  has  also,  largely  as  an  outcome  of  this 
action,  appointed  two  official  library  organizers.  Thus 
the  State  Association  in  New  York  was  largely  a  result 
of  a  central  State  library  authority.  In  New  Jersey,  for 
instance,  precisely  the  opposite  was  the  case.  The  State 
Association,  when  formed,  was  comparatively  devoid  of 
interest — a  mere  body  for  discussion.  The  State  had  no 
central  library  authority,  and,  although  it  had  a  library 
law,  the  State  government  took  no  particular  interest 
in  the  libraries  of  the  State.  As  soon  as  the  State  As- 
sociation began  to  make  efforts  in  this  direction,  all  this 
was  changed.  An  efficient  State  library  commission  was 
created,  traveling  libraries  were  sent  out  to  the  rural 
districts,  an  organizer  of  noteworthy  ability  and  suc- 
cess was  appointed,  a  summer  library  class  was  estab- 
lished, and  the  libraries  of  the  State  now  feel  that  they 
may  depend  upon  the  aid  and  counsel  of  the  central 
State  authorities  when  they  need  help. 

In  some  of  the  Western  States  more  than  this  has 
been  done  and  still  more  attempted.  The  library  com- 
missions have  become  bodies  of  greater  authority  and  im- 

349 


ORGANIZATIONS    OF    LIBRARIANS 

portance,  and  acts  that  would  revolutionize  the  library- 
organization  of  the  state  have  been  introduced  into  the 
legislature  and  urged  upon  the  attention  of  legislators 
by  the  associations  as  bodies  and  by  their  members  indi- 
vidually. Success  has  not  always  attended  these  efforts. 
In  Kansas,  for  instance,  the  creation  of  a  State  commis- 
sion and  the  appointment  of  a  library  organizer  have 
for  several  years  been  pressed  without  avail.  The  State 
Association  finally  appointed  an  organizer  on  its  own 
account,  but,  as  it  was  without  funds  to  pay  for  his 
services  and  as  he  was  a  busy  librarian,  he  could  natu- 
rally accomplish  little.  In  Illinois  a  commission  has  just 
been  appointed,  but  the  law  creating  it  is  not  at  all  such 
as  had  been  urged  by  the  State  Association,  and  the 
librarians  of  the  State  have  accepted  it  only  as  better 
than  nothing. 

In  other  states  still,  where  the  state  associations 
might  perhaps  have  accomplished  something  by  well-di- 
rected effort,  this  has  not  been  made  at  all,  or  has  been 
made  feebly  and  ineffectively.  In  a  few  associations  the 
organization  is  little  more  than  nominal,  and  general 
interest  is  absent.  In  many  states,  where  the  library 
movement  is  in  its  infancy  and  libraries  are  few,  no 
state  associations  have  yet  been  formed.  This  is  espe- 
cially the  case  in  the  South.  Such  states,  of  course,  are 
in  more  need  of  efficient  organizations  of  this  kind  than 
are  communities  where  libraries  abound  and  where  their 
value  and  their  claim  on  the  public  are  generally  recog- 
nized. Sometimes  encouragement  and  aid  from  other 
state  organizations  have  been  effective  in  the  inception 
of  associations  of  librarians  in  these  states. 

So  far  as  the  functions  of  state  associations  have 
been  deliberative  and  social,  an  important  outcome  of 

350 


BI-STATE    AND    TRI-STATE    MEETINGS 

their  activities  has  been  the  bi-state  meeting.  The  ear- 
liest and  still  the  most  important  of  these,  bidding  fair 
to  become  a  permanency  among  library  gatherings,  is 
the  joint  meeting  of  the  New  Jersey  Library  Associa- 
tion and  the  Pennsylvania  Library  Club  (a  State  asso- 
ciation in  everything  but  name)  at  Atlantic  City,  N.J. 
The  New  York  (City)  Library  Club  once  joined  in  this 
meeting,  and  it  was  once  held  in  Washington,  D.  C,  in- 
stead of  Atlantic  City,  but  with  these  exceptions  it 
has  taken  place  annually,  usually  in  the  month  of 
March,  as  noted  above.  Librarians  from  all  parts  of  the 
Union  attend,  and  its  sessions  last  for  two  or  three 
days.  Not  infrequently  bodies  of  wider  scope,  such  as 
the  American  Library  Association  Council,  Executive 
Board,  or  Publishing  Board,  or  the  American  Library 
Institute,  find  it  convenient  to  meet  at  the  same  time  and 
place.  For  several  years  past  these  and  other  bodies 
have  been  meeting  jointly  in  Chicago  during  the  win- 
ter holidays.  State  associations  in  adjoining  states 
have  held  occasional  bi-state  meetings,  with  mutual 
profit  and  enjoyment.  A  tri-state  meeting  (Kentucky, 
Ohio,  and  Indiana)  was  held  in  Louisville  in  October, 
1909.  Experience  has  shown  that  the  Atlantic  City 
plan  of  meeting  in  one  town  and  having  but  one  head- 
quarters is  best.  The  holding  of  sessions  alternately  in 
two  neighboring  border  towns,  each  association  having 
headquarters  in  its  own  state,  appeals  to  local  state  feel- 
ing, but  hardly  insures  a  quiet  and  satisfactory  con- 
ference. 

The  American  Library  Institute  originated  in  a  feel- 
ing on  the  part  of  many  of  the  older  librarians  that  the 
membership  of  the  American  Library  Association  had 
become  too  large  and  its  organization  too  complex  for 

351 


^         ORGANIZATIONS    OF    LIBRARIANS 

profitable  informal  discussion  of  matters  of  library  in- 
terest, such  as  had  been  common  in  the  early  days  of  the 
Association.  A  smaller  body,  for  deliberation  only,  con- 
sisting largely  of  the  heads  of  libraries,  seemed  desir- 
able. Some  persons  had  in  mind  a  body  that  should 
compare  with  the  Association  somewhat  as  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences  with  the  American  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  or  as  the  Royal  societies 
of  London  and  Edinburgh  with  the  British  Association. 
It  was  even  proposed  to  form  a  Library  Academy,  but 
this  somewhat  ambitious  title  did  not  meet  with  general 
approval. 

The  first  outcome  of  this  feeling  was  the  formation 
of  the  American  Library  Association  Council  under  the 
constitution  of  1893.  This  body,  however,  had  numer- 
ous legislative  functions,  and  the  performance  of  these, 
with  the  attendant  discussion,  almost  completely  masked 
its  deliberative  functions.  It  was  still  generally  felt  that 
the  proposed  small  deliberative  body  should  be  closely 
connected  in  some  way  with  the  larger  association,  and 
opinion  oscillated  between  the  remodeling  of  the  Coun- 
cil and  the  organization  of  a  separate  but  affiliated  body. 
Finally  the  American  Library  Institute  was  formed,  the 
required  connection  with  the  American  Library  Associa- 
tion being  obtained  by  making  its  nucleus  the  ex-presi- 
dents of  that  body.  These  chose  additional  Fellows,  the 
Institute  as  thus  formed  voted  for  others,  and  the  proc- 
ess went  on  until  the  full  complement  of  Fellows  was 
reached. 

The  Institute  as  thus  constituted  has  been  bitterly  op- 
posed by  some  librarians,  who  have  asserted  that  its  con- 
nection with  the  Association  is  wholly  vague  and  loose. 
Under  these  circumstances,  although  all  of  the  Fellows 

352 


TlUbJ     AMJlJJttlUAJN     IjlliKAKl     liNbTlTU  T±j 

are  members  of  the  Association,  discussion  in  its  meet- 
ings of  some  of  the  Association's  affairs  has  been  re- 
sented. A  considerable  number  of  the  Fellows  have 
shared  in  these  feelings  and  have  felt  that  if  the  Coun- 
cil of  the  Association  could  be  so  changed  as  to  corre- 
spond in  membership  and  functions  with  the  Institute, 
it  would  be  better  for  the  latter  to  go  out  of  existence. 
Of  the  value  of  the  smaller  deliberative  body  and  the 
interest  of  informal  discussion  in  such  a  body,  made  up 
of  the  older  and  more  experienced  members  of  the  pro- 
fession, there  seems  to  be  but  one  opinion  among  libra- 
rians. 

The  alterations  in  the  Council  effected  by  the  new 
American  Library  Association  constitution  in  1909  were 
the  outcome  of  this  feeling.  They  make  the  Council 
almost,  though  not  quite,  wholly  a  deliberative  body 
and  only  partly  an  elective  one.  The  ex-officio  mem- 
bers and  those  chosen  by  the  Council  itself  outnumber 
those  elected  directly  by  the  Association. 

The  Institute  still  maintains  its  organization,  and  in 
1916  announced  its  intention  of  devoting  itself  to  the 
larger  and  more  special  library  problems,  such  as  that 
of  cooperation.  Despite  adverse  feeling  on  the  part  of 
some  libraries  it  would  seem  therefore  that  it  had  as- 
sumed permanent  form.  It  has  not  affiliated  with  the 
A.  L.  A.  and  is  in  all  respects  a  separate  organization. 

Library  clubs,  drawing  their  membership  from  cities, 
towns,  or  neighborhoods,  have  become  numerous  in  re- 
cent years.  None  of  them  is  a  purely  social  club,  al- 
though most  of  them  hold  social  meetings — receptions, 
dinners,  and  afternoon  teas — and  none  of  them  has  a 
separate  clubhouse.  They  afford  opportunities  to  the 
librarians  of  a  locality  to  become  acquainted  and  to  dis- 

353 


ORGANIZATIONS  OF  LIBRARIANS 

cuss  matters  of  professional  interest ;  and  occasionally  to 
listen  to  some  outsider  of  ability  and  influence.  In  the 
State  of  New  York  a  number  of  local  clubs  have  been 
formed  as  the  result  of  institutes  held  by  the  State. 
These  clubs  naturally  vary  widely  in  membership,  influ- 
ence, and  the  value  of  what  they  are  able  to  do.  Some 
have  undertaken  and  carried  through  valuable  biblio- 
graphical or  other  work.  The  New  York  Library  Club 
has  published  a  descriptive  list  of  the  libraries  of 
Greater  New  York — over  300  in  number — with  particu- 
lar reference  to  special  collections  of  books,  private  li- 
braries not  included.  Since  1910,  it  has  also  issued  a 
regular  bulletin  of  its  own.  Clubs  might  do  more  of  this 
work,  but  it  must  be  carried  out  by  busy  librarians,  as 
a  labor  of  love,  and  perhaps  we  should  not  wonder 
that  it  is  only  occasional. 

Meetings  held  by  the  organized  staffs  of  large  libra- 
ries may  differ  little  from  those  of  library  clubs.  The 
programmes  for  discussion  are  often  similar,  and  out- 
siders may  be  present  by  invitation.  These  gatherings 
are  treated  at  greater  length  in  the  chapter  on  The 
Library  Staff. 

Library  institutes,  as  now  conducted,  occupy  a  posi- 
tion midway  between  the  summer  or  other  occasional 
training  class  and  the  meeting  of  neighborhood  librari- 
ans for  discussion.  So  far  as  there  is  instruction  by 
outsiders,  it  is  like  a  training  class;  so  far  as  those  in 
attendance  discuss  and  advise  together,  it  is  like  a  meet- 
ing. Most  institutes  combine  these  features,  and  they 
may  consist  of  only  one  or  two  sessions  or  of  exercises 
lasting  for  a  week,  as  is  the  case  with  the  institutes  held 
by  the  Connecticut  Public  Library  Committee.  These 
differ    but    little,    except    in    name,    from    such    a 

354 


LIBRARY   INSTITUTES 

summer  training  class  as  that  held  annually  under  the 
auspices  of  the  New  Jersey  Library  Commission.  Insti- 
tutes are  usually  local,  however;  in  their  essence  they 
are  for  those  who  have  neither  time  nor  money  to  go 
far  for  instruction  or  for  conference. 

With  the  foregoing  brief  sketch  of  the  various  types 
of  library  organization,  this  account  of  American  public 
libraries  may  fittingly  close,  for  nothing  is  more  charac- 
teristic of  the  modern  idea  in  library  work  than  the  atti- 
tude toward  it  of  those  who  are  engaged  in  it,  as  evi- 
denced by  their  desire  for  frequent  conference  and  com- 
parison of  ideas. 


24 


APPENDIX 


¥ 


APPENDIX 


A.  L.  A 

MEETINGS  AND  MEMBERS 

Member- 

-o 

Date 

Place 

Att. 

ship 
Numbers 

1876,  Oct.  4-6 

Philadelphia 

103 
66 
21 

1- 

70- 

.     69 
■  122 

eq 

1877,  Sept.  4-6 

New  York 

53 

1877,  Oct.  2-5 

London  (international) 
No  meeting 

1878 

123- 

•  196 

74 

1879,June30-July2. 

Boston 

162 

197- 

386- 
398- 

385 
.  397 
-  413 

189 

1880 

No  meeting 

I'* 

1881,  Feb.  9-12 

Washington 

70 

16 

1882,  May  24-27 

Cincinnati 

47 

72 

414- 
455- 

.  454 
470 

11 

1883,  Aug.  14-17.... 

Buffalo,  N.Y 

16 

1884 , 

No  meeting 

471- 
477- 

.  476 
-  513 

Q 

1885,  Sept.  8-11 

Lake  George,  N.  Y 

87 

37 

1886,  July  7-10 , 

Milwaukee 

133 

514- 

■  594 

81 

1887,  Aug.  30-Sept.  2 

Thousand  Islands,N.Y. 

186 

595- 

■  700 

106 

1888,  Sept.  25-28.... 

Catskill  Mts.,  N.  Y 

32 

701- 

.  725 

5^5 

1889,  May  8-11 

St.  Louis 

106 

726- 

■  771 

46 

1890,  Sept.  9-13 

Fabyans  (White  Mts.) . 

242 

772- 

.  884 

113 

1891,  Oct.  12-16 

San  Francisco 

83 

885- 

-  939 

55 

1892,  May  16-21 

Lakewood,  Baltimore. . 

260 

940- 

-1081 

142 

1893,  July  13-22 

Chicago 

311 

1082- 

-1230 

119 

1894,  Sept.  17-22.... 

Lake  Placid,  N.  Y 

205 

1231- 

-1315 

8S 

1895,  Aug.  13-21 

Denver  and  Col.  Spr. . . 

147 

1316- 

-1377 

62 

1896,  Sept.  1-8 

Cleveland 

363 

1378- 

-1550 

173 

1897,  June  21-25 

Philadelphia 

315 
94 

1551- 

-1684 

134 

1897,  July  13-16 

London  (international) 

1898,  July  5-9 

Lakewood  Chautauqua 

494 

1685- 

-1825 

141 

1899,  May  9-13 

Atlanta,  Ga 

215 
452 

1826- 
1909- 

■1908 
-2116 

83 
208 

1900,  June  6-12 

Montreal,  Canada 

1901,  July  3-10 

Waukesha,  Wis 

460 

2117- 

-2390 

274 

1902,  June  14-20.... 

Boston  and  Magnolia. . 

1018 

2391- 

-2735 

34S 

1903,  June  22-27 

Niagara 

684 
577 
359 
891 

2736-2975 
2976-3239 
3240-3497 
3498-3979 

24fl 
264 
258 
482 

1904,  Oct.  17-22 

St.  Louis 

1905,  July  4-8 

Portland,  Ore 

1906,  June29-July6. 

Narragansett  Pier,R.I., 

1907,  May  23-29 

Asheville,  N.  C 

478 

3980- 

-4325 

34^ 

1908,  June  22-27.... 

Minnetonka,  Minn 

658 

4326- 

-4557 

231 

1909,  June28-July  3. 

Bretton  Woods,  N.  H. . 

620 

4558- 

-4704 

14' 

1910,  June30-July  6. 

Mackinaw  Island,Mich. 

540 

4705- 

-5002 

29' 

1911,  May  18-24 

Pasadena,   Cal 

582 

5011- 

-5217 

20' 

1912,  June  26-July  2 

Ottawa,   Canada 

704 

5218- 

-5628 

411 

1913,  June  23-28 

Kaaterskill,  N.  Y 

892 

5629- 

-6018 

39( 

1914,  May  25-29 

Washington,  D.  C 

1366 

6019- 

-6486 

461 

1915,  June  3-9 

Berkeley,  Cal 

779 

6487- 

-6862 

?7( 

1916,  June  26-July  1. 

Asbury  Park,  N.  J... 

1386 

6863- 

-7260 

39S 

1917,  June  21-26 

Louisville,  Ky 

i 

364 


APPENDIX 


STATE  LIBRARY  COMMISSIONS,  WITH  OFFICIAL 
NAME  OF  COMMISSION  OR  BOARD  AND 
TITLE  OF  EXECUTIVE  OFFICER 

Alabama — Department  of  Archives  and  History.  Di- 
vision of  Library  Extension:  Director. 

Arkansas  Library  Commission:  Chairman. 

California  State  Library.    Extension  Department. 

Colorado  State  Board  of  Library  Commissioners: 
Secretary. 

Colorado  Traveling  Library  Commission:  President. 

Connecticut  Free  Public  Library  Committee:  Secre- 
tary. 

Delaware  Free  Library  Commission:  Secretary. 

Georgia  Library  Commission:  Secretary. 

Idaho  State  Library  Commission :  Secretary. 

Illinois  Library  Extension  Commission :  Secretary. 

Indiana  Public  Library  Commission:  Secretary. 

Iowa  Library  Commission:  Secretary. 

Kansas  Traveling  Libraries  Commission:  Secretary. 

Kentucky  Library  Commission :  Secretary. 

Maine  Library  Commission:  Secretary. 

Maryland  Public  Library  Commission:  Secretary. 

Massachusetts  Free  Public  Library  Commission: 
Chairman. 

Michigan  State  Board  of  Library  Commissioners: 
Secretary. 

Minnesota  Public  Library  Commission:  Secretary. 

Missouri  Library  Commission:  Secretary. 

Nebraska  Public  Library  Commission :  Secretary. 

New  Hampshire  State  Library  Commission :  Secretary. 

365 


APPENDIX 

New  Jersey  Public  Library  Commission:  Secretary. 

New  York.  Educational  Department.  Educational 
Extension  Division:  Chief. 

North  Carolina  Library  Commission:  Secretary. 

North  Dakota  State  Library  Commission :  Secretary. 

Ohio  Library  Commission:  Secretary. 

Oregon  State  Library:  Librarian. 

Pennsylvania  Free  Library  Commission:  Secretary. 

Rhode  Island  State  Committee  of  Libraries :  Secretary. 

South  Dakota  Free  Library  Commission:  Field  Li- 
brarian. 

Tennessee  State  Board  of  Education;  Library  Exten- 
sion Division:  Director. 

Texas  Library  and  Historical  Commission:  Secretary. 

Utah  Department  of  Public  Instruction:  Library  Sec- 
retary. 

Vermont  Free  Library  Commission:  Secretary. 

Virginia  State  Library:  Librarian. 

"Washington  State  Library  Commission :  Secretary. 

Wisconsin  Free  Library  Commission:  Secretary. 


STATE  LIBRARY  ASSOCIATIONS 

The  following  States  have  library  associations. 
Meetings  are  held  annually  and  officers  change  from 
year  to  year.  Letters  to  the  secretary  will  generally 
be  forwarded  by  the  State  Commission  or  by  any  large 
library  in  the  State : 

Alabama  Connecticut 

Arkansas  District  of  Columbia 

California  Georgia 

Colorado  Idaho 

366 


AJr'fJliJNJUlA 


Illinois 

Indiana 

Fowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

^faine 

^lassachusetts  (called  a 

''Library  Club'^ 
^Fichigan 
M  innesota 
]\Iississippi 
Missouri 
>\rontana 
Nebraska 
Now  Hampshire 
Xew  Jersey 
New  Mexico 
New  York 
North  Carolina 
North  Dakota 
Ohio 


Oklahoma 

Ontario  (Canada) 

Pacific  Northwest  (includ- 
ing Oregon,  Washington, 
Idaho  and  British  Co- 
lumbia). 

Pennsylvania  ( called '  *  Key- 
stone State  Library  As- 
sociation'') 

Khode  Island 

Saskatchewan  (Canada) 

South  Carolina 

South  Dakota 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Utah 

Vermont 

Virginia 

West  Virginia 

Wisconsin 

Wyoming 


AMERICAN  LIBRARY  PERIODICALS 

American  Library  Association  Bulletin.    A.  L.  A.  Pub. 

Bd.,  78  E.  Washington  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
Iowa  Library  Quarterly.     Pub.,  Library  Commission, 

Des  Moines,  Iowa. 
Library  Journal.   Pub.,  R.  R.  Bowker,  141  E.  25th  St., 

New  York  City. 

367 


APPENDIX 

Minnesota   Pub.   Lib.   Commission  Library  notes  an 

news.    Pub.,  Public  Library  Commission,  St.  Pan 

Minn. 
News  notes  of  California  Libraries.     California  Stat 

Lib.,  Extension  Dept.,  Sacramento,  Cal. 
New  Jersey  Library  Bulletin.     New  Jersey  Librai 

Comm.,  Trenton,  N.  J. 
New  York  Libraries.     Pub.,   N.   Y.   State  Educatioi 

Dept.,  Albany,  N.  Y. 
Pennsylvania    Library    Notes.      Pub.,    Free    Librar 

Comm.,  Harrisburg,  Pa. 
Public  Libraries.     Pub.,  Library  Bureau,  6  N.  Mich 

igan  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 
Vermont   Free   Public   Library    Commission   BuUetir 

Pub.,  Free  Pub.  Lib.  Comm.,  Montpelier,  Vt. 
Wisconsin   Library   Bulletin.      Pub.,   Library   Comm 

Madison,  Wis. 
Special  Libraries.    Pub.,  Special  Libraries  Associatioi 

54  Lafayette  St.,  New  York  City. 
Michigan  Libraries.    Pub.,  State  Library  Comm.,  Lai 

ing,  Mich. 

ENGLISH  PERIODICALS 

Library  Association  Record.     Pub.,  Library  Associi 

tion,  Caxton  Hall,  Westminster,  London,  W.  C. 
Library.  Pub.,  32  George  St.,  Hanover  Sq.,  London,  W 
Library  Assistant.     Pub.,  Lib.   Assistant  Associatioi 

Central  Lib.,  68  HoUoway  Rd.,  Islington  N.,  Loi 

don,  Eng. 
Library  World.     Pub.,  47  Harthan  Road,  Hollowa: 

London. 
Library  Miscellany.    Pub.,  B.  M.  Dadachanji,  Centn 

Library,  Baroda,  India. 
Librarian  and  Book  World.    Pub.,  36  Whitefriars  St 

Fleet  St.,  E.  C,  London. 
36$ 


APPENDIX 


LIBRARY  SCHOOLS 

New  York  State  library  school,  Albany.  J.  I.  "Wyer, 
Jr.,  director;  F.  K.  Walter,  vice-director.     1887. 

Pratt  institute  school  of  library  science,  Brooklyn,  N. 
Y.  Edward  F.  Stevens,  director;  Josephine  A. 
Rathbone,  vice-director.     1890. 

University  of  Illinois  library  school,  Champaign,  111. 
P.  L.  Windsor,  director.     1893. 

Carnegie  library  school,  Pittsburgh.  John  H.  Leete, 
director;  Sarah  C.  N.  Bogle,  principal.     1901. 

Simmons  college  library  training  school,  Boston.  June 
R.  Donnelly,  director.     1902. 

Western  reserve  university  library  school,  Cleveland. 
Alice  S.  Tyler,  director.     1904. 

Library  training  school  of  the  Carnegie  library  of  At- 
lanta, Ga.  Tommie  Dora  Barker,  director;  Mary 
E.  Robbins,  associate  director,  1905. 

Wisconsin  library  school,  Madison.  Matthew  S.  Dudg- 
eon, director;  Mary  E.  Hazeltine,  preceptor,  1906. 

Syracuse  university  library  school,  Syracuse.  Earl  E. 
Sperry,  director,     1908. 

New  York  public  library  school,  New  York  City. 
Azariah  S.  Root,  acting  principal,  1911. 

University  of  Washington  library  school,  Seattle, 
Wash.     W.  E.  Henry,  director,  1912. 

California  state  library  school,  Sacramento.  J.  L. 
Gillis,  director,  1913. 

Los  Angeles  library  training  school,  Theodora  R. 
Brewitt,  principal,  1915. 

St.  Louis  library  school.  Arthur  E.  Bostwick,  direc- 
tor; Harriet  P.  Sawyer,  principal,  1917. 
369 


APPENDIX 


SOME   BOOKS   AND    ARTICLES   ON    AMERICAN 
PUBLIC  LIBRARIES  AND  THEIR  WORK 

This  is  not  a  bibliography,  and  makes  no  attempt 
at  completeness.  Those  who  desire  to  follow  the  sub- 
jects treated  in  this  book  somewhat  farther  than  the 
author's  space  has  permitted  him  to  pursue  them,  will, 
however,  it  is  believed,  find  something  of  interest  in 
each  of  the  books  and  papers  in  the  list. 

The  meaning  of  abbreviations  is  as  follows:  Lib.  J., 
"Library  Journal,"  New  York;  Lih'y,  "The  Library,"  Lon- 
don;  Puh.  Lib.,  "Public  Libraries,"  Chicago. 

Art,  Museums,  Etc. 

Bain,  J.,  "Lectures,  Museums,  Art  Galleries,  etc.,  in  Con- 
nection with  Libraries,"  Lib.  J.,  1893,  p.  214. 

Bolton,  H.  C,  "Art  Decorations  in  Public  Libraries,"  Lib.  J., 
1895,  p.  386. 

DousMAN,  Mary  E.,  "Pictures  and  How  to  Use  Them,"  Pub. 
Lib.,  Nov.,  1899,  p.  399. 

Museum  and  Library,  Pub.  Lib.,  Jan.,  1903. 

Powell,  Mary  M.,  "Making  Art  Popular  Through  the  Li- 
brary"   (St.  Louis,  1915). 

Ranck,  S.  H.,  "Use  of  the  Library  Lecture  Room,"  Lib.  J., 
Jan.,  1911,  p.  9. 

Weitenkampf,  F.,  "The  Print  Made  Useful,"  Lib.  J.,  1905, 
p.  920. 

Associations  and  Clubs 

Bostwick,  a.  E.,  "Value  of  Associations,"  Lib.  J.,  1908,  p.  3. 
"The  First  Conference  of  American  Librarians"   (1853),  Lib. 
J.,  1887,  p.  526. 

Binding  and  Mending 

A.  L.  A.  CoMiMiTTEE  ON  BINDING ;   rcports.     See  Proceedings. 
"Binding  for  a  Small  Library"    (A.  L.  A.,  Chicago,  1909). 
Bailey,  A.  L.,  "Library  Binding"    (N.  Y.,  1916). 
Chivers,    C,    "The    Paper    and    Binding    of    Lending-library 
Books,"  Lib.  J.,  1909,  p.  350. 

370 


CouTTS,  H.  T.,  and  Stephen,  G.  A.,  "Manual  of  Library  Book- 
binding," London,  1911. 

Nicholson,  J.  B.,  "What  a  Librarian  Should  Know  About 
Binding,"  Lib.  J.,  1884,  p.  102. 

PooLE,  R.  B.,  "Elements .  of  Good  Binding,"  Lib.  J.,  1892, 
Conf.  No.,  p.  15. 

Wheelock,  Mary  E.,  "New  Books  for  Old"  (St.  Louis,  1916). 

Book-Selection  and  Purchase 

BosTWiCK,  A.  E.,  "How  Librarians  Choose  Books,"  Pub.  Lih., 
!  April,  1903,  p.  137. 

Lord,   I.   E.,  "Notes  on   Book-buying  for   Libraries,"   Lib.  J., 

1907,  pp.  3,  56. 
Palmer,  W.  M.,  "Relationship  of  Publishers,  Booksellers,  and 

Librarians,"  Lib.  J.,  1901,  Conf.  No.,  p.  31. 
Larned,   J.   N.,   "Selection   of   Books   for  a   Public   Library," 

Lib.  J.,  1895,  p.  270. 

Branches  and  Stations 

BosTWiCK,  A.  B.,  "Branch  Libraries,"  Lib.  J.,  1898,  p.  14. 
"Branch  Libraries;    a  Symposium,"   Lib.  J.,  1902,   Conf.  No. 

p.  38.     . 
Cole,  G.  W.,  "Delivery  Stations  or  Branch  Libraries,"  Lib.  J., 

1892,  p.  480. 

Buildings 

Fletcher,  W.   L,  "Architects  and  Librarians;    an   Irenicon," 

Lib.  J.,  1888,  p.  338. 
SouLE,  C.  C,  "How  to  Plan  a  Library  Building  for  Library 

Work,"   Boston,  1912. 
Stansbury,    a.    L.,    "Library    Buildings    from    a    Librarian's 

Standpoint,"  Pub.  Lib.,  Nov.,  1906,  p.  495. 
TiLTON,   E.   L.,   "Scientific  Library  Planning,"   Lib.  J.,   Sept., 

1912,  p.  497. 

Catalogues  and  Classifications 

Billings,   John  S.,  "The  Card  Catalogue  of  a  Great  Public 

Library,"  Lib.  J..  1901,  p.  377. 
Bishop,  W.  W.,  "Practical  Handbook  of  Modern  Library  Cata- 
loguing," Baltimore,  1914. 
i  Bliss,  H.  E.,  "A  Modern  Classification  for  Libraries,"  Lib.  J., 

Aug.,  1910,  p.  351. 
I  Brown,  James  Duff,  "Manual  of  Library  Classification  and 

Shelf  Arrangement,"  London,  1898. 
Cutter,  C.  A.,  "Expansive  Classification,"  3d  Ed.,  Boston,  1891. 

25  371 


APPENDIX 

Cutter,   C.   A.,   "The   Dictionary   Catalogue;    Why  and   How 

it  is  Made,"  Lib.  J.,  1890,  p.  143. 
Dewey,  Melvil,  "Decimal  Classification,"  9th  Ed.,  N.  Y.,  1915. 
Fellows,   Jennie  D.,  "Cataloguing  Rules"    (1914). 
Foster,    W.   E.,    "Classification    from   the   Reader's    Point   of 

View,"  Lib.  J.,  1890,  Conf.  No.,  p.  6. 
HiTCHLER,  Theresa,  "Cataloguing  for  Small  Libraries,"  Rev. 

ed.,  Chicago,  1915. 
Iles,  George,  "Evaluation  of  Literature,"  Lib.  J.,  Conf.  No., 

p.  18. 
Richardson,  E.  C,  "Classification,"  N.  Y.,  1901. 
Stewart,  J.  D.,  "The  Sheaf  Catalogue,"  London,  1909. 
Thomson,    O.   R.    H.,    "Classification   of   Fiction,"    Pub.   Lib., 

Nov.,  1903,  p.  414. 

Children's  Work 

Chapman,  J.  J.,  "Children's  Books,"  A.  L.  A.,  Bulletin,  July, 

1916. 
Eastman,  L.  A.,   "The   Children's   Library  League,"   Lib.  J., 

1897,  Conf.  No.,  p.  151. 
Hassler,  Harriot  E.,  "Common  Sense  and  the  Story  Hour," 

Lib.  J.,  1905,  Conf.  No.,  p.  77. 
Hazeltine,  Alice  L,  ed.,  "Work  With  Children"  [a  collection 

of  articles]   (New  York,  1917). 
Moore,  A.   C,   "Work  of   the   Children's   Librarian,"   Lib.  J., 

1903,  p.  160. 
Olcott,  Frances   J.,  "Story-telling,  Lectures,  and  Other  Ad- 
juncts of  the  Children's  Room,"  Lib.  J.,  1900,  Conf.  No., 

p.  69. 
"Story-telling  Poems,"  Boston,  1913. 
Power,  Effie  L.,  "Lists  of  Stories  and  Programs  for  Story 

Hours,"  New  York,  1914. 
Stearns,  L.  E.,  Report  on  Reading  for  the  Young,  Lib.  J., 

1894,  Conf.  No.,  p.  81. 

Circulation  Work 

Brett,  W.  H.,  and  others,  "How  We  Reserve  Books,"  Lib.  «., 

1889,  p.  401. 
Browne,  N.  E.,  "Library  Fines,"  Lib.  J.,  1898,  p.  185. 
Carr,  H.  J.,  "Charging  Systems,"  Lib.  J.,  1889,  p.  203. 
Crunden,  F.   M.,   "A   Self-supporting  Collection   of  Duplicate 

Books  in  Demand,"  Lib.  J.,  1879,  p.  10. 
Draper,    Susan    A.,    "Literature    for    the    Blind,"    Pub.    Lib., 

April,  1904,  p.  147. 
Hil%   F.   p.,   "Charging   Systems,"   Lib.  J.,   1896,   Conf.   No., 

p.  51. 

372 


APFEiNDlX 

LiNDERFELT,  K.  A.,  "Charging  Systems,"  Lib.  J.,  1882,  p.  178. 
Lord,  I.  E.,  "Open  Shelves,"  A.  L.  A.  Proceedings,  1908. 
Montgomery,  T.  L.,  "Open  Shelves"   [reply  to  E.  S.  Willcox, 

below].  Lib.  J.,  1900,  p.  168. 
"Open  Shelves;  a  Symposium,"  Lib.  J.,  1890,  pp.  197,  229,  296. 
Willcox,  E.  S.,  "Open  Shelves,"  Lib.  J.,  1900,  p.  113. 
"Registration  of  Borrowers"  [a  Symposium],  Lib.  J.,  1890,  pp. 

37,  74. 

Libraries  (American)  in  General 

Adams,  H.  B.,  "Public  Libraries  and  Popular  Education," 
Albany,  1900. 

"Being  a  Librarian,  a  Symposium,"  Lib.  J.,  1890,  pp.  202,  231, 
264,  294,  330. 

BosTwicK,  A.  E.,  "Making  of  An  American's  Library,"  Bos- 
ton, 1915. 

Brown,  James  Duff,  "Library  Economy,"  London,  1903. 

Carnegie,  A.,  "The  Library  as  a  Field  for  Philanthropy,"  Lib. 
J.,  1890,  p.  42. 

Dana,  J.  C,  "Library  Primer,"  3d  Ed.,  Chicago,  1903. 

"Libraries:   Addresses  and  Essays"    (N.  Y.,  1916). 

"Modern  American  Library  Economy,"  Woodstock,  Vt.,  1912. 

Dewey,  Melvil,  "Library  Conditions  in  America  in  1904," 
Pub.  Lib.,  Oct.,  1904,  p.  363. 

Fairchild,  S.  C,  "American  Libraries;  a  Method  of  Study  and 
Interpretation,"  Lib.  J.,  1908,  p.  43. 

Fletcher,  W.  I.,  "Public  Libraries  in  America,"  Boston,  1894. 

Keep,  A.  B.,  "History  of  the  N.  Y.  Society  Library,"  New 
York,  1908. 

Hume,  J.  F.,  "The  Library  and  the  Movies,"  L.  J.,  May,  1913, 
p.  277. 

Keogh,  Andrew,  "English  and  American  Libraries;  a  Com- 
parison," Pub.  Lib.,  July,  1901,  p.  388. 

Moody,  K.  T.,  "Index  to  Library  Reports,  Chicago,  1913. 

Morel,  E.,  "Biblioth^ques,"  2  vols.,  Paris,  1909.  [An  indict- 
ment of  French  libraries  and  comparisons  with  those  of 
England  and  the  United   States.] 

Plummer,  Mary  W.,  "Hints  to  Small  Libraries,"  3d  Rev.  Ed., 
N.  Y.,  1902. 

"Public   Library   and  the   Pursuit   of   Truth,"   A.   L.   A. 

Bulletin,   July,   1916. 

"Public  Libraries  in  the  United  States  of  America,  Their 
History,  Condition  and  Management,"  Special  Report, 
Bureau  of  Education,  Washington,  1876. 

Rathbone,  J.  A.,  "The  Modern  Library  Movement,"  Pub.  Lib., 
June,  1908,  p.  197. 

373 


APPENDIX 

Sharp,   K.   L.,   "Librarianshlp    as   a   Profession,"   Pub.   Lih., 

1898,  p.  5. 

Steiner,  B.  C,  "Legal  Status  of  the  Public  Libraries  in  the 
United  States,"  Am.  Law  Review,  July-Aug.,  1909. 

ToRREY,  C.  A.,  "State  Supervision  of  Public  Libraries,"  Puh. 
Lib.,  May,  1901,  p.  271. 

Vincent,  Geo.  E.,  "The  Library  and  the  Social  Memory," 
Pub.  Lib.,  Dec,  1904,  p.  479. 

Organization  and  Administration 

BosTWicK,  A.  E.,  "Service  Systems  in  Libraries,"  Lib.  J., 
June,  1912,  p.  299. 

Chairman,  Reports  of  Committee  on  Relation  of  the  Li- 
brary to  the  Municipality  A.  L.  A.  Bulletin,  July,  1912, 
p.  196;   July,  1913,  p.  243. 

Crunden,  F.  M.,  "How  Things  are  Done  in  One  American 
Library,"  LiVy,  new  ser.,  vol.  I.,  pp.  92,  147,  290,  384; 
vol.  II.,  p.  20. 

Davis,  M.  L.,  and  Rathbone,  F.  L.,  "Necessity  of  Staff  Meet- 
ings," Lib.  J.,  1909,  p.  299. 

Elliott,  Julia,  "Disadvantages  of  Library  Government  by 
School-boards,"  Pub.  Lib.,  Dec,  1898,  p.  407. 

Hill,  F.  P.,  "Organization  and  Management  of  a  Library 
Staff,"  Lib.  J.,  1897,  p.  381. 

Lindsay,  May  B.,  "Changing  from  a  Subscription  Library 
to  a  Free  Public  Library,"  Lib.  J.,  1899,  Conf.  No.,  p.  73. 

SouLE,  C.  C,  "Trustees  of  Free  Public  Libraries,"  Lib.  J., 
1890,  Conf.  No.,  p.  19. 

Stearns,  L.  E.,  "How  to  Organize  State  Library  Commis- 
sions," Lib.  J..  1899,  Conf.  No.,  p.  16. 

Strohm,  Adam,  "Efficiency  of  the  Library  Staff  and  Scien- 
tific Management,"  A.  L.  A.  Bulletin,  July,  1912,  p.  143. 

Thomson,  O.  R.  H.,  "A  Normal  Library  Budget  and  Its  Units 
of  Expense"    (A.  L.  A.  handbook  No.  9),  Chicago,  1913. 

Tyler,  A.  S.,  "The  Public  Library  in  Commission  Governed 
Cities,"  L.  J.,  July,  1913,  p.  403. 

Reference  Work 

Foster,  W.  E.,  "The  Information  Desk,"  Lib.  J.,  1894,  p.  368. 
Hasse,  a.  R.,  "Building  Up  a  Document  Department,"  Pub. 

Lib.,  Feb.,  1907,  p.  48. 
"How  to  Keep  Maps;  a  Symposium,"  Lib.  J.,  1891,  p.  72. 
Lester,    C.    B.,    "Present    Status    of    Legislative    Reference 

Work,"  A.  L.  A.  Bulletin,  July,  1913,  p.  199. 
Mawn,  Margaret,  "Government  Documents,"  Pub.  Lib.,  Nov., 

1899,  p.  405. 

374 


APPENDIX 

Ranck,   S.  H.,   "Municipal   Legislative   Reference  Libraries," 

Lib.  J.,  1909,  p.  345. 
"Reference  Work  With  the  General  Public"  [a  Symposium]. 

Pub.  Lib..  Feb.,  1904,  p.  55. 
"What    We   Do   With    Pamphlets"    [a   Symposium],   Lib,  J., 

1889,  pp.  433,  470. 

School  Work 

Austin,  Isabella,  "What  the  School  Needs  from  the  Li- 
brary," Lib.  J.,  1909,  p.  395. 

BosTwicK,  A.  E.,  ed.  "Library  and  School"  [a  collection  of 
papers  by  librarians  and  teachers],  New  York,  1914 

Elmendorf,  H.  L.,  "Public  Library  Books  in  Public  Schools.' 
Lib.  J.,  1900,  p.  163. 

MooRE,  A.  C,  "Library  Visits  to  Public  Schools,"  Lib.  J., 
1902,  p.   181. 

"Public  Libraries  and  Libraries  in  Schools"  [a  Symposium] 
Lib.  J.,  1909,  p.  145. 

Rathbone,  J.  A.,  "Cooperation  Between  Libraries  and  Schools: 
an  Historical   Sketch,"  Lib.  J..  1901,  p.  187. 

"Schools  and  Libraries;   a  Symposium,"  Lib.  J.,  1897,  p.  181 

Technical  Collections 

Andrews,  C.  W.,  "Technical  Collections  in  Public  Libraries." 

Lib.  J.,  1895,  p.  6. 
Poster,  W.  E.,  "Use  of  a  Library  by  Artisans,"  Lib.  J.,  1898. 

p.  188. 
Johnston,   R.   H.,   "Special   Libraries,"   A.    L.   A.   Manual   ot 

Library  Economy   (Chicago,  1915). 
Kroeger,  Alice  B.,  "Place  of  the  Library  in  Technical  Educa- 
tion," Lib.  J.,  1905,  p.  393. 
"Library  and  the  Workingman"  [several  articles].  Pub.  Lib.. 

March,  1908. 
Smith,  T.  L.,  "The  Public  Library  and  the  Mechanic,"  Pub 

Lib.,  Jan.,  1910,  p.  6. 
Stevens,    E.    F.,    "Industrial    Literature   and    the    Industrial 

Public,"  Lib.  J.,  1909,  p.  95. 

Training 

A.  L.  A.  Committee  on  Library  Training;  annual  reports  in 

Proceedings. 
Doren,  E.  C,  "Special  Training  for  Library  Work,"  Pub.  Lib , 

Jan.,  1899,  p.  3. 
Hadley,  Chalmers,  "What  Library  Schools  Can  Do  for  the 

Profession,"  A.  L.  A.  Bulletin,  July,  1912,  p,  147. 

375 


APPENDIX 

Hasse,  a.  R.,  "Training  of  Library  Employes,"  Lib.  J.,  1895, 

pp.  202,  239,  272,  303. 
Hazeltine,    M.    E.,    "Methods    of    Training    in    One    Library 

School"    [Wisconsin  Lib.  School],  Lih.  J.,  1909,  p.  253. 
"Library  Schools  and  Training  Classes;   a  Symposium,"  Lib. 

J.,  1898,  Conf.  No.,  p.  59. 
MooRE,  A.   C,   "Special  Training  for  Children's  Librarians," 

Pub.  Lib.,  March,  1899,  p.  99. 
Plum'mer,  M.  W.,  "Training  for  Librarianship,"  in  A.  L.  A. 

Manual  of  Library  Economy,  Chicago,  1913. 
Sawyer,  H.    P.,    "Comparison    of    the    Curricula    of    Library 

Schools  and  Training  Classes,"  A.  L.  A.  Bull.,  July,  1916, 

p.  185. 
TowNSEND,  Eliza  E.,  "Apprentice  Work  in  the  Small  Public 

Library,"  Lib.  J.,  1909,  p.  8. 

Traveling  Libraries,  Extension  Work,  Etc. 
HuTCHiNS,  P.  A.,  "Traveling  Libraries  in  Farming  Communis 

ties,"  Lib.  J..  1896,  p.  171. 
Legler,   H.   E.,   "What   State  Library   Commissions  Are  am 

What  They  Are  Doing,"  Lib.  J.,  Sept.,  1905. 
Sackett,    Gertrude,    "Home    Libraries   and    Reading   Clubs," 

Lib.  J.,  1902,  Conf.  No.,  p.  72. 
"Summary  of  County  Library  Work,"  A.  L.  A.  Bulletin,  July, 

1915,  p.  324. 
"Traveling  Libraries;  a  Symposium,*'  Pub.  Lib.,  1897,  pp.  47 

51,  54-55. 
Wheeler,  Jos.  L.,  "The  County  Library,"  Lib.  J.,  Feb.,  1917 


INDEX 


Abbey,  E.  A.,  mural  pictures  by, 

in  Boston,  314. 
Absence  on  leave,  196. 
Academy  of  Medicine  library,  N. 

Y.,  74. 
Accession  catalogue,  168. 
Accession  record,  on  bill,  141. 
Accounts,  library,  256. 
Acetylene  lamps,  298. 
"Actual     users,"     meaning     of 

term,  37. 
Adams,  Chas.  Francis,  address 

by,    at     Quincy,     Mass., 

14. 
Adams,   Herbert   B.,   book  by, 

372. 
report  of,  on  Public  Libraries, 

5. 
Administration,    A.  L.  A.  com- 
mittee on,  264. 
list  of  books  and  articles  on, 

373. 
of    independent    library    and 

branch  compared,  239. 
regulated  by  statistics,  268. 
Administrative  work  of  a  staff, 

192. 
Advertisements  in  libraries,  100. 
Affiliated   societies   (A.   L.    A.), 

347. 
Age  limit  in  libraries,  84. 


Aguilar  Free  Library,  Avenue  C 
Branch,  12. 
branch  for  children,  78. 
branch  system,  16. 
children's  library,  12. 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  Carnegie  gift  re- 
fused by,  210. 
Albany  library  school,  331,  332. 
Algebra,    use    of,    in   discussing 

rebinding,  228. 
Alphabetical      arrangement     in 

classification,  158. 
Alphabetization,    principles    of, 

178. 
American    Library   Association, 
Book  List  of,  346. 
used  in  book  selection,  130. 
Boston  Conference  of  (1879), 

14. 
Bulletin  of,  contents  of,  346. 

established,  344. 
catalogue  of,  30. 
cataloguing  rules  of,  181. 
Chautauqua  Conference  of,  16. 
chief   library   organization   in 

United  States,  342. 
committee  reports  of,  369,  370, 

375. 
committees  of: 

committee    on    adrninistra- 
tion,  264. 


377 


INDEX 


American  Library  Association — 
committees   of  : 

committee  on  bookbinding, 

223. 
committee    on    cooperation 
with  National  Education 
Association,  104. 
committee  on  library  admin- 
istration, 264. 
discussion  of,  on  branches,  16. 
on  children's  work,  13. 
on  fines,  49. 
on  free  access,  9,  10. 
on  library  training,  335. 
formation  of,  8. 
headquarters  of,  345. 
Lake  Placid  Conference  of,  10. 
hst  of  editions  by,  147. 
list  of  meetings  of,  and  attend- 
ance, 364. 
Magnolia  Conference  of,  49. 
membership  of,  348. 
Philadelphia  Conference  of,  13. 
Publishing  Board  of,  215. 
catalogue  cards  printed  by, 
187. 
San  Francisco  Conference  of, 

10. 
statistics  of,  on  pensions,  199. 
American  Library  Institute,  342. 

history  of,  351. 
American  Printing  House  for  the 

Blind,  323. 
American    Publishers'    Associa- 
tion, 148. 
Americanization  of  foreigners,  52. 
Anglo  -  American      cataloguing 

rules,  181. 
Analyticals,  in  catalogue,  177. 
Annotations  in  catalogues,  183. 


Annual     American     catalogue, 

used    in    book    selection, 

130. 
Application  blank.   New  York, 

facsimile  of,  35. 
St.  Louis,  facsimile  of,  36. 
Apprentice  classes,  332. 
Appropriations,  classification  of, 

24. 
for  library  support,  23. 
standardization  of,  257. 
Apsidal  stack  rooms,  279. 
Architect,  functions  of,  270. 
Arctic  exhibit.  New  York  Public 

Library,  87. 
Art  galleries  and  libraries,  305. 
Art  in  Ubraries,  list  of  books  and 

articles  on,  369. 
Assembly  rooms  in  libraries,  280. 
Atlantic  City,  bi-state  meeting 

at,  351. 
Auction,  library  distribution  by, 

8. 
purchase  by,  144. 
Austin,  Isabella,  article  by,  374. 
Authors,  names  of,  in  catalogue, 

180. 
use  of  libraries  by,  63. 
Author  catalogue,  175. 
Author  marks  for  books,  165. 

Bailey,  A.  L.,  quoted,  121; 
book,  370. 

Bain,  J.,  article  by,  370. 

Tlar  Association  Library,  N. 
Y.,  74. 

Barker,  Tommie  Dora,  direc- 
tor library  school,  369. 

Bay  Ridge  (Brooklyn)  as  li- 
brary location    245. 


378 


INDEX 


Bibliographic      classification,      Bookkeeping,  library,  256 


157. 

Bibliotheque  Nationale,  cata- 
logue, 184. 

Bibliothetic  classification,  158. 

Bids  for  building  contracts, 
274. 

Billings,  J.  S.,  article  by,  371. 

Bills  as  accession  records, 
141. 

Binding,  220. 
books  and  articles  on,  369. 
strong  original,  142,  221. 

Bi-state  meetings,  351. 

Bishop,  W.  W.,  book  by,  371. 

Blind,  alphabets  for,  illustra- 
tions of  320. 
libraries  for,  316. 

Bliss,  H.  E.,  article  by,  371; 
"tally  cards"  devised  by, 
170. 

Board  of  Health,  53. 

Bogle,  S.  C.  N.,  director  li- 
brary school,  369. 

Bolton,  H.  C,  article  by,  370. 

Bookbinding,  A.  L.  A.  com- 
mittee on,  223. 

Book  cards,  44. 

Book  catalogues,  185. 

Book  committees,  129. 

Book  exhibitions,  306. 

"Book  leagues,"  94. 

Book  numbers,  165. 

Book  Review  Digest,  used  in 
book  selection,  130. 

Book  selection  and  purchase, 
list  of  books  and  articles 
on,  369. 


Bookseller,  selection  of,  141, 
Borrower's  card.  New  York, 
facsimile  of,  44. 
St.  Louis,  facsimile  of,  45. 
Boston,  location  of  A.  L.  A. 
headquarters  345. 
traveling  libraries  in,  108. 
Boston  Athenaeum,   free   ac- 
cess in,  10. 
Boston  Conference  of  A.  L. 
A.  papers  on  schoolchil- 
dren's  reading,  14. 
Boston  line  letter  for  blind, 

318. 
Boston  Public  Library,  8, 19. 
annual  lists  issued  by,  185. 
bills  used  in,  for  accession 

record,  170. 
branches  of,  16. 
branches    and   stations   of, 

234. 
children's  room  in,  13. 
establishes  first  branch  in 

United  States,  15. 
mural  decorations  in,  314. 
Bostwick,  A.  E.,  articles  by, 
370,  371,  373,  374;   book, 

375. 
comparison  of  branch  sys- 
tems by,  16. 
paper  by,  on  fines,  49. 

Boutet  de  Monvel,  84. 

Bowdoin  College  library,  308. 

Braille,    Louis,    inventor    of 
Braille  type,  319. 

Braille  system  for  blind,  318. 

Braille  type,  music  in,  326. 


379 


INDEX 


Branch  libraries,  15,  233. 
history  of,  15. 

Bray,  Dr,  Thomas,  church  li- 
braries established  by,  5. 

Brett,  W.  H.,  article  by,  372. 
report  of,  on  free  access, 
10. 

British    and    Foreign    Blind 
Association,  324. 

British     Museum     catalogue, 
184. 

Brookline      Public     Library, 
children's  room  in,  12, 13. 

Brooklyn,    library    sites    in, 
245. 

Brooklyn      Public      Library, 
branches  of,   236. 
Carroll  Park  Branch,  plan 

of  basement  in,  280. 
Flatbush   Branch,   plan   of, 

281. 
shelf  list  of,  248. 

Brown,    James    Duff,    books 
by,  371,  373. 
on  museums,  303. 
order  of  catalogue  entries 
given  by,  182. 

Browne,  Nina  E.,  article  by, 
372. 

Browne  charging  system,  46. 

Brownsville  (Brooklyn)  as  li- 
brary location,  245. 

Bruce    Library,    N.    Y.,    first 
children's   room   in,   12. 

Brushes,  metallic,  for  clean- 
ing exteriors,  289. 

Brussels  Institute  of  Bibliog- 
raphy, 164. 


Buffalo  Public  Library,  chil- 
dren's corner  in,  13. 
is  it  "public"?  19. 
Buildings   (libraries),  270. 
list  of  books   and  articles 

on,  370. 
unwise  gifts  for,  208. 
Bulletins,  library  periodicals, 
215. 
illustrated,  85. 
in  schools,  97. 
Bureau  of  Education  (United 

States),  29. 
Bushwick    (Brooklyn)    as   li- 
brary location,  245. 
Business  man's   library,   117. 
"Butterfly    type"    of    library, 
280. 

Cabinets  for  catalogues,  183. 

Cambridge  Public  Library, 
children's  room  in,  13. 

Carbon  lamps,  300. 

Card  catalogues,   183. 

Card  charging  systems,   43. 

Cards,  restriction  of,  to  one 
branch,  246. 

Carnegie,  Andrew,  article  by, 
373. 
donation  of,  to  A.  L.  A.,  346. 
gifts  of,  208. 

Carnegie  Library,  Atlanta, 
library  school  at,  331. 

Carr,  H.  J.,  article  by,  372. 

Carriers,  mechanical,  59,  284. 

Carroll  Park  Branch,  Brook- 
lyn, basement  plan  of, 
280. 


380 


INDEX 


Catalogue,  A.  L.  A.,  30. 

general,   175. 
Catalogue  cards,  L.  C,  29. 
Catalogues  and  classification, 
list  of  books  and  articles 
on,  370. 
for  the  blind,  325. 
union,    248. 
Cataloguing,   168. 
Anglo-American   rules    for, 

181. 
centralization  in,  250. 
Censorship,  131. 
Centralization  in  branch  sys- 
tems, 236. 
in  cataloguing,  250. 
Chairs,  295. 
Chapman,    J.    J.,    article   by, 

372. 
Charging  desks,  291. 
importance  of,  54. 
Charging  systems,  42. 
Chautauqua    Conference,    A. 

L.  A.,  16. 
Chestnut  Hill  (Philadelphia), 
as   library   location,    245. 
Chicago,       Public       Library, 
avoidance  of  duplication 
in,  73. 
delivery   stations  of,  16,  234. 
offer  of,  as  A.  L.  A.,  head- 
quarters,  345. 
Chicago  University  Libraries, 

278. 
Children,    tables    and    chairs 

for.  295. 
Children's  Aid  Society,  home 
libraries  of,  108. 
school  of,  100. 


Children's  comers,  77. 
Children's  library,  first  (New 

York),  11. 
Children's    room,    closed    at 
noon,  100. 
combined    with    assembly 
room,  281. 
Children's  rooms,  history  of, 
11. 
objections  to,  89. 
Children's  work,  76. 
list  of-  books   and  articles 
on,  371. 
Chivers,  C,  article  by,  370. 
Chronological  arrangement, 

158. 
"Circulation"  of  traveling  li- 
braries,      meaning       of 
word.  111. 
record  of,  42. 
reported  by  time,  127. 
statistics  of,  259. 
Circulation  tray,  293. 
Circulation     work,     list     of 
books    and    articles    on, 
371. 
Civic  Centers,  276. 
Civil   Service  rules   in  libra- 
ries, 200. 
Class  libraries,  96. 
Class  list,  distinguished  from 

shelf  list,  171. 
Classed  catalogue,   175. 
Classification,  152. 
for  purposes  of  report,  261. 
Cleaning,  289. 


381 


INDEX 


Cleveland     Public     Library, 
331. 
children's   corner  in,  13. 
free  access  in,  10. 
school  work  in,  15. 
Closed-shelf  libraries,   38. 

children  in,  77. 
Closed-shelf  loan  desk,  292. 
Closed     shelves,     for     text- 
books, 103. 
Clubs,  library,  list  of,  367. 
Codification     of    rules^     cus- 
toms, etc.,  204. 
Cole,  G.  W.,  articles  by,  371. 
on  branches   and   stations, 
16. 
Collections,       in      children's 
rooms,  86. 
separate,  278. 
Colonial  libraries,  5. 
Columbia  University,  first  li- 
brary school  in,  330. 
Columbia  University  library. 

New  York,  74. 
Columbus      Public      Library, 

free  access  in,  10, 
Commercial    libraries,    120. 
Commercial  Museum  library, 

Philadelphia,  121. 
Commission  government,   21. 
Commissions,   library,  26. 
aided  by  Associations,  349. 
list  of,  365. 
Commission  work,  28. 
Committees  for  branches,  213. 

of  library  board,  22. 
Competitions,     architectural, 
272. 


Compilation     by     librarians, 

suggested,   218. 
in  libraries,  63. 
Condemnation  of  worn  books, 

134,  231. 
Conference,  National  of  1876, 

343. 
Conferences  of  A.  L.  A.  dis- 
cussed,    344.     See     also 

American    Library   Asso- 
ciation. 
Congressional     Library,     see 

Library   of   Congress. 
Connecticut    Public    Library 

Committee,  institute  held 

by,  354. 
Contract    between    city    and 

library,  21. 
Contractors  for  buildings, 275. 
Cooper-Hewitt   light,   302. 
Cooperation    which    schools, 

history  of,  14. 
Copyright     Act,     importation 

clauses   in,   149. 
Copyright  Conference,  1906-7, 

30. 
Copyright  question,   30. 
Cost  of  a  book,  221. 

of  circulation,   132. 
Council  of  A.  L.  A.,  changes 

in,  345. 
County  libraries,  27. 
Crane,  Walter,  illustrator,  85. 
Craver,     Harrison     W.,     on 

technology  libraries,  122. 
Cross    entries    in    catalogue, 

176. 
Crunden,  F.  M.,  articles  by, 

372,  374. 


INDEX 


Cumulative  Book  Index,  used 

in  book  selection,  130. 
Cutter,  C.  A.,  as  author,  219 
article  by,  372. 
inventor       of       Expansive 

Classification,  162. 
on   C.   F.   Adam's   address, 
14    . 
"Cutter  numbers,"  165. 

Dana,  J.   C,   as   author,   219. 

book  by,  373. 
Dates  of  charging,  46. 
Davis,  M.  L.,  article  by,  374. 
Decimal        classification, 

(Dewey),  162. 
Decoration   in   libraries,   309. 
Delivery    stations,    233. 

history  of,  16. 
Delinquency    in   library   use. 

247. 
Denver  Public  Library,  chil- 
dren's room   in,  13. 
Departmental      arrangement 

in  libraries,  278. 
Depositary  libraries,  29,  72. 
Deposits  in  schools,  17. 
Detroit  Public  Library,  chil- 
dren's room  in,  13. 
school  work  in,  15. 
Dewey,  Melvil,  9. 
article  by,  373. 
as  author,  219. 
first   library   school  organ- 
ized by,  330. 
inventor  of  Decimal  Classi- 
fication, 162. 
list   of   children's   libraries 
published  by,  12. 


Dictionary   catalogue,   175. 

Direct-radiation  heating,  295. 

Discarding,  231. 

Discipline  in  children's 
rooms,  93. 

Discipline  in  children's 
rooms,  legal  phases  of,   32. 

Discounts  on  books,  to  libra- 
ries, 149. 

Disinfection  of  books,  53. 

Documents,  in  libraries,  71. 

Donations,  206. 

Donnelly,  June  R.,  director  of 
library  school,   369. 

Doren,  E.  C,  article  by,  375. 

Dousman,  Mary  E.,  articles 
by,  13,  370. 

Draper,  S.  A.,  article  by,  372. 

Dudgeon,  M.  S.,  director  of 
library  school,  369. 

Duplication,  avoidance  of,  73. 
in  library  work,  114. 
of  books,  133. 

Dust,  accumulation  and  re- 
moval of,  289. 

East  Boston  Branch,  Boston 
Public  Library,  first 
branch  in  United  States, 
15. 

East  Liberty  Branch,  Pitts- 
burgh, floor  plan  of,  279. 

East  Orange,  N.  J.,  branches 
in,  16. 

East  Side,  New  York,  reading 
on,  127. 

Eastman,  L.  A.,  article  by» 
372. 


383 


INDEX 


Editions,   choice  of,  147. 
new,  of  reference  books,  144. 

Education,  a  lifelong  process, 
105. 
Bureau  of,  report  of,  373. 

Educational    influence    of    li- 
brary, 25. 

Elmendorf,  H.  L.,  article  by, 
375. 

Employment  in  libraries,  con- 
ditions of,  334. 

Endowment,    how   controlled, 
25. 

English   catalogue,    used     in 
book  selection,   130. 

English   criticisms   of   Amer- 
ican libraries.  3. 

Enoch  Pratt  Library,  branch- 
es of,  16. 

Eskimo  stories  at  library,  87. 

Examinations,  200. 

Executive  Board,  A.  L.  A.,  344. 

Exhibitions       in       children's 
rooms,  87. 

Expansive  Classification  (Cut- 
ter), 162. 

Expiration  of  guaranty,  38. 

Extension,  26,  108,  233. 

Fairchild,  S.  C,  article  by,  373. 
Federal  relations  of  libraries, 

29. 
Fellows,  J.  D.,  book  by,  372. 
Fiction   in   libraries,    126. 
"ribbon"     arrangement    of, 

167. 
Finances,  library,  24. 
Financial  statistics,  256. 


Fines  for  retention  of  books, 
49. 
how  disposed  of,  24. 

Fireproof  library  buildings, 
286. 

Fixed  location,  166. 

Fixtures   for  lighting,   297. 

Flatbush  (Brooklyn),  as  li- 
brary location,  245. 

Flatbush  Branch,  Brooklyn, 
floor  plan  of,  281. 

Fletcher,  W.  I.,  article  by,  371. 
as  author,  219. 
book  by,  373. 

Floor  duty,  55. 

Floors  in  libraries,  287. 

Foreign  languages,  books  in, 
51. 

Foster,    W.    E.,    articles    by, 
372,  874,  375. 
on   school   and   library,   15. 

Frankford  (Phila.),  as  li- 
brary location,  245. 

Free  access,  see  Open  Shelf, 
369. 

Frosted  lamps,  300. 

Furnaces,  295. 

Furniture   for   libraries,   291. 

Gardner's  Trust  for  the  Blind 
(London),  324. 

Garvin,  Ethel,  on  trade 
books,  123. 

"Gary  Plan,"  98. 

Genealogical  material,  71. 

Geographical  arrangement, 
158. 

Germantown  (Phila.),  as  li- 
brary location,  245. 


384 


Gifts  to  libraries,  206. 

Gillis,  J.  L.,  director  library 
school,  368. 

Government   documents,    71. 

Greenwich  Village  (N.  Y. 
City),  as  library  loca- 
tion,  245. 

Guarantors,  responsibility  of, 
32. 

Guaranty,  conditions  of,  36. 

Hadley,  Chalmers,  article  by, 
375. 

Hall,  Drew  B.,  improved  ac- 
cession record  of,  170. 

"Hall  use,"  statistics  of,  259. 

Hanaway,  Emily  S.,  children's 
library   opened   by,   11. 

Handbooks  to  libraries,  217. 

Harlem  (New  York  City),  as 
library  location,  245. 

Harper,  W.  R.,  plan  of,  for  de- 
partmental libraries  in 
University  of  Chicago,  278. 

Hasse,  A.  R.,  articles  by,  374, 
376. 

Hassler,  H.  E.,  article    by,  372. 

Hawthorne  collection  at  Bow- 
doin,  308. 

Hazeltine,  A.  I.,  book  by,  372. 

Hazeltine,  M.  E.,  article  by, 
376;   preceptor,  369. 

Headquarters  of  A.  L.  A.,  345. 

Heating  systems,  295. 

Hewlett,  James  M.,  mural 
proofs  by,  312. 

Higginson,  Thomas  Went- 
worth,  10. 


Hill,  P.   P.,   articles  by,   372, 

374. 
Historical   material   in   libra- 
ries, 71. 
Hitchler,    Theresa,    book    by, 
372. 
inventor  of  form  of  union 
shelf  list,  248. 
Holidays,  how  treated,  195. 
Home  libraries,  112. 
Home  use  of  traveling  libra- 
ries, 111. 
statistics  of,  259. 
Hours  of  opening,  54. 

working,  in  a  library,  193. 
Hume,  J.   F.,  article  by,  373. 
Hutchins,    F.    A.,    article   fty, 
.     376. 

lies,   George,  article  by,  372. 
Illinois,  University  of,  library 

school,  331. 
Illinois  School  for  the  Blind, 

324. 
Illumination,  297. 
Importation,  duty-free,  149. 
Independent,  The,  quoted,  123. 
Indiana       summer       library 

school,  331. 
Indicators,  38. 
Indirect   lighting,   301. 
Indirect-radiation       heating, 

295. 
Ink,     use     of,     for    lettering 

books,  225. 
In-print   books,   lists  of,   130. 
Institutes,   Library,  27,   354. 
Interbranch  loan  system,  250. 


385 


INDEX 


Interlibrary  loans,  74. 

saving  by,  135. 
International    conference    of 

1877,  344. 
International   copyright,   150. 
Inventors,  use  of  library  by, 

66. 
Inventory,  172,  258. 
formula  for  taking,   174. 
in  free-access  libraries,  40. 
Investigation,  use  of  library 

in.  65. 
Iowa  summer  library  school, 

331. 
Iowa  traveling  libraries,  17. 
Irish,  as  readers,  244. 

Janitors'  quarters  in  libra- 
ries, 284. 

JefCers,  Leroy,  list  of  editions 
by,  147. 

Jersey   City    Public   Library, 
delivery    station    system 
of,  16. 
delivery  stations  of,  234. 

Jewett,  Chas.  C,  president  of 
Conference  of  1853,   343. 

John  Crerar  Library,  Chi- 
cago, avoidance  of  dupli- 
cation in,  73. 

Jones,  John  Winter,  presi- 
dent of  London  Conf., 
1877,  344. 

Kansas,     traveling  libraries 

in.  108. 

Kansas,      traveling  library 

commission   in,  28. 


Kent,   Henry  W.,  as  author, 

219. 
Keogh,    Andrew,    article    by, 

373. 
Kingsbridge  (N.  Y.  City),  as 

library  location,  245. 
Kitchens  for  staff,  201. 
Kleidograph     (N.     Y.     point 

typewriter),  323. 
Koopman,  H.  L.,  as  author, 

219. 
Kroeger,  Alice  B.,  article  by, 

375. 

Labels,  museum,  304. 

Lake  Placid  Conference,  A. 
L.  A.,  10. 

Larned,  J.  N.,  article  by,  371. 
as  author,  219. 

Latin  races,  as  library  users, 
244. 

League  of  Library  Commis- 
sions, 27,  342. 

"Leagues"   for  children,   94. 

Lectures,  N.  Y.  Public  Li- 
brary, 88. 

Ledger  charging  systems,  42. 

Legislation  on  libraries,  8. 

Legislative  reference,  124. 

Lenox  Branch,  New  York  ex- 
hibitions in,  306. 

Lester,  C.  B.,  article  by,  374. 

Lettering   of   book-back,   225. 

Librarian,  relations  of,  with 
trustees,  22. 

Libraries,  American,  list  of 
articles  and  books  on,  372. 
circulating  over  100,000 
yearly,  list  of,  359. 


386 


IJNDJjiX 


Library    Association    of    the 
United    Kingdom,   found- 
ed. 344. 
cataloguing  rules  of,  181. 

Library  buildings,  270. 

Library  Clubs,  list  of,  367. 

Library     Commissions,      see 
Commissions. 

"Library  Council,"  203. 

Library  Journal,  founding  of, 
344. 
"Children's   rooms"   in    in- 
dex to,  11. 

Library  of  Congress,  29. 
catalogue  cards  of,  186. 
classification,  165. 
substitute  for  accession  rec- 
ord used  in,  170. 

Library  schools,  331. 
list  of,  369. 

Licenses  for  librarians,  28. 

"Life"  of  a  book,  142. 

Lifts,  electric,  for  books,  288. 

Lighting,  297. 

Linderfelt,  K.  A.,  article  by, 
373. 

Lindsay,  May  B.,  article  by, 
374. 

Line  systems  for  blind,  318. 

Linguistic   arrangement,  158. 

Linoleum  for  floors,  288. 

Linotype,  use  of,  in  catalog- 
uing, 185. 

Lists  for  book  selection,  130. 

Loan     desk,     see     Charging 
Desks. 

Local  collections,  305. 

Location  on  shelves,  166. 


Logical  arrangement,  158, 

London  conf.  of  librarians,  9. 
of  1877,  344. 

Longfellow  collection  at  Bow- 
doin,  308. 

Lord,  I.  E.,  articles  by,  371, 
373. 

Louisville  tri-state  meeting, 
351. 

Lowell  Public  Library,  chil- 
dren's corner  in,  13. 

Lynn  Public  Library,  chil- 
dren's room  in,  13. 

Magnolia  Conference,  A.  L. 
A.,  49. 

Mail  circulation  of  blind 
books,  327. 

Maine  library  laws,  8. 

Manuscripts,  70. 

Maps  In  reference  libraries, 
69. 

Marshalltown,  Iowa,  Library, 
floor  plan  of,  282. 

Massachusetts  Library  Club, 
10. 

Massachusetts  library  laws,  8. 

Mawn,  M.,  article  by,  374. 

Mechanics'  library,  117. 

Medford  Public  Library,  chil- 
dren's corner  in,  13. 

Melbourne,  Australia,  travel- 
ing libraries,  17. 

Mending  of  books,  220,  231. 
list   of  articles  and   books 
on,  369. 

Menomonle,  Wis.,  Public  Li- 
brary, 17. 


387 


INDEX 


Mercantile  libraries,  6. 

Merchants'  Association  libra- 
ries, N.  Y.  and  Boston,  121. 

Michigan  traveling  libraries, 
17. 

Milwaukee     Public     Library, 
children's  room  in,  13. 

Minneapolis    Public    Library, 
free  access  in,  10. 

Missing    books     (inventory), 
173. 

Mnemonic  notations   (classifi- 
cation), 161. 

Model  school  library,  99. 

Modern  features,  history  of,  9. 

Modern  library  idea,  1. 

Montana    traveling    libraries, 
17. 

Moody,  K.  T.,  index  by,  373. 

Moon,  Dr.  William,  type  for 
blind,   invented  by,  319. 

Moon   Society,   England,   324. 

Moon  system  for  blind,  318. 

Moore,  A.  C,   articles   by,  372, 
375,.  376. 

Moore  Light,  302. 

Montgomery,  T.  L.,  article  by, 
372. 

Multigraph,  219. 

Morel,  E.,  book  by,  373. 

Municipal  reference,  124. 

Municipality,    connection    of, 
with  library,  20. 

Mural  decoration,  311. 

Museum,  library  as  a,  303. 
of    Natural    History,    New 
York,      cooperation      of, 
with    New    York    Public 
Library,  87. 


and   library  list   of  books 
and  articles  on,  369. 
Music  for  the  blind,  326. 
in  libraries,  71. 
shelving  for,  294. 

Narrative  in  libraries,  126. 

National  Association  of  State 
Librarians,  342. 

National  Education  Associa- 
tion, library  section  of, 
104. 

Negroes  in  public  libraries, 
52. 

Nelson,  Martha  F.,  9. 

Nernst  lamp,  300. 

Net  books,  148. 

New  Hampshire  library  laws, 
8. 

New  Haven  Public  Library, 
children's  room  in,  13. 

New  Jersey  Library  Associa- 
tion,  351. 

New  Jersey  summer  class, 
355. 

New  York  City,  Am.  Braille 
adopted  by  Board  of 
Education  of,  321. 

New    York    City,    conference 
of  1853   in,  343. 
list  of  libraries  in,  354. 

New    York   Free   Circulating 
Library,    branch    system 
of,  16. 
children's  room  in,  12. 
report    of    reading    in,    by 

days,   127. 
traveling     library     depart- 
ment of,  17. 


388 


INDEX 


New    York    Library    Associa- 
tion, 348. 
New  York  Library  Club,  348. 

publications  by,  354. 
New    York    Point,    catalogue 
in,  325. 

system   for  blind,  318. 
New  York  Public  Library,  re- 
quest of,  for  gifts,  213. 

blind  catalogue  of,  325. 

blind    use    of,    outside    of 
state,  327. 

book-order  slip  of,  139. 

books  for  very  young  chil- 
dren in,  84. 

branch  and  station  use  of, 
compared,   234. 

branch    reading   rooms   of, 
68. 

children's   rooms   in,    12. 

number  of  volumes  in,  13. 

combination     reading    and 
assembly   rooms   in,   282. 

duplication     in,    avoidance 
of,  74. 

in  branches,  135. 

exhibitions       in       Lenox 
Branch  of,  306. 

fines  in,  49. 
New    York    Public    Library, 
holiday  force  in,  195. 

instructor   in   mending   in, 
232. 

is  it  "public"?  19. 

maintenance    of    Carnegie 
branches  of,  209. 

map  of  branches  of,  235. 


model  school  collection  In, 
99. 

music  for  the  blind  in,  326. 

Port      Richmond      Branch, 
floor  plan  of,  283. 

publications  of,  216. 

reading    in,    at    East    and 
West  Side  branches,  127. 

St.  Gabriel's  Park  Branch, 
lighting  diagram  of,  299. 

salaries  in,  198. 

school  department  of  (first 
in  United  States),  15. 

Tompkins    Square   Branch, 
12. 

training    of    employees   in, 
334. 

traveling    libraries   of,    18, 
109. 

use    of    ready-made    cards 
by,  188. 
New    York    School    for   the 

Blind,  319. 
New    York    State,    allotment 
in,  to  libraries,  24. 

conditions   of   state   appro- 
priation in,  264. 

definition     of     "public     li- 
brary" in,  20. 

traveling  libraries  of,  17. 
New     York     State     Library, 
early     classification     in, 
159. 
New  York  State  (Albany)  li- 
brary school,  331,  332. 
Newark  charging  system,  45. 
Newark     (N.    J.)     Free    Li- 
brary, 120. 


389 


INDEX 


Newark    (N.  J.)  Free  Library, 

publications  of,  218. 
Newberry    Library,    Chicago, 

arrangement  of  books  in, 

278. 
avoidance  of  duplication  in, 

73. 
catalogue  of,  184. 
Newspaper  for  the  staff,  205. 
Newspaper  rooms,  58,  68. 
Nicholson,   J.   B.,   article  by, 

371 
Notation    of   a   classification, 

154,  161. 

Ohio,  bill  for  licensing  libra- 
rians in,  28. 
library  laws  of,  8. 
Olcott,  Prances  J.,  article  and 

book  by,  372. 
Omaha   Public   Library,   chil- 
dren's room  in,  13. 
One-card  charging  system,  43. 
Open  shelf,  history  of,  9. 
influence     of,     on     catalog- 
uing, 189. 
Open-shelf  libraries,  38. 
classification  in,  161. 
loan  desks  in,  292. 
rooms  in    (buildings),  278. 
Ordering  of  books,  137. 
Organizations    of    librarians, 

342. 
Organizers,  27. 
Osterhout     Library,     Wilkes- 
barre,       Pa.,      children's 
room  in,  13. 
Outlets,  electric,  298-9. 


Out-of-print  books,  145. 
Out-of-stock  books,  145. 
Overbrook,  Pa.,  Institute  for 

Blind,  324. 
Oxford   University,   traveling 

libraries  from,   17. 

Palmer,  W.  M.,  article  by,  371. 

Parcel  post,  31. 

Pawtucket,  R.  L,  Free   Liby,  9. 

children's  corner  in,  13. 
Pay-duplicate  system,  20,  50, 

135. 
Peary's  "snow-baby"  sled,  at 

library,  87. 
Pensions   for  librarians,   199. 
Pennsylvania    Library    Club, 

351. 
Percentages  of  circulation  to 
stock,  129. 
comparison  of,  128. 
of  fiction,  126-7. 
Periodicals,  reference  use  of, 

38. 
Perkins   Inst,   for  the  Blind, 

324. 
Peterborough,  N.  H.,  library, 

8. 
Philadelphia    Conference,    A. 
L.  A.,  343. 
discussion      of      children's 
work  at,  13. 
Philadelphia,  Free  Library  of, 
assembly  room  in,  281. 
branches  of,  16. 
branch  system  of,  234. 
free  access  in,  11. 
traveling  libraries  of,   18. 
library  sites  in,  245. 

390 


INDEX 


Philadelphia  Library  Co.,  6,  7. 
Philanthropy   in   the  library, 

206. 
Philip,  A.  J.,  book  by,  369. 
Phonograph     records     in     li- 
braries, 71. 
Photo-copying  machines,  75. 
PiQture  bulletins,  85. 
Pictures  in  children's  rooms, 
85. 
on  library  walls,  309. 
Pianola  rolls  in  libraries,  71. 
Pirated  books,  definitions  of, 

150. 
Pittsburgh,  Carnegie  Library 
of,  branches  and  stations 
of,  234. 
children's  room  in,  13. 
plan      of      East      Liberty 

Branch  of,  279. 
technology    department   of, 
122. 
Pittsburgh      library      school 
(children's   work),    331. 
Plans  for  buildings,  274. 
Playgrounds,  99. 
Pledge  in  children's  rooms,  94. 
Plummer,  M.  W.,  article  by, 
376. 
on  children's  rooms,  12. 
book  by,  373. 

director  library  school,  368. 
Pneumatic  cleaners,  290. 
Pocket  charging  systems,  46. 
Point  systems  for  blind,  318. 
Poole,  R.  B.,  article  by,  371. 
Poole,  W.  F.,  as  author,  219. 
on  accession  book,  169. 


plan  of,   for  Newberry  Li- 
brary, 278. 

Port  Richmond  Branch,  New 
York  Public  Library, 
floor  plan  of,  283. 

Postage,  free  for  blind,  30. 
reduced    for    libraries,    30, 
135. 

Poster  pictures,  German,  311. 

Power,  Effie  L.,  book  by,  372. 

Pratt  Institute  Free  Library, 
applied     science     depart- 
ment of,  124. 
branches  of,   16. 
children's  room  in,  13. 

Pratt  Institute  Free  Library, 
is  it  "public"?  19. 

Pratt  Institute  library  school, 
331,  333. 

Prefixes  to  names,  in  cata- 
logue, 180. 

Prices,  as  affected  by  A.  P. 
A.,  148. 

Princeton    classification,   163. 

Print  departments,   70,  308. 

Prints,  for  schools,  99. 

Promotions,  199. 

Providence    Public    Library, 
children's   room   in,    13. 
technology    department   of, 
122. 

Provident  Association  Li- 
brary, St.  Louis,  121. 

Public  and  the  library,  34. 

Public  Libraries,  list  of  chil- 
dren's rooms  in,  12. 

"Public"  Library,  definition 
of,  19. 


391 


INDEX 


Public    Service    Commission 

library.    New   York,    121. 
Public  support  for  libraries, 

propriety  of,  25. 
Publicity,  18. 
Publishers  for  the  blind,  list 

of,  323. 
Publishers'    Association,    48. 
Publishers'  Circular,  used  in 

book  selection,  130. 
Publishers'   Weekly,   used   in 

book  selection,  130. 
Publishing  Board  of  A.  L.  A., 

346. 
Purchase  of  books,  137. 

in  branch  system,  240. 
Putnam,     Herbert,     on     free 

access,   10. 
Putnam,    Herbert,   policy   of, 

29. 
Puvis  de  Chavannes,  pictures 

by,  in  Boston,  314. 
Pyle,  Howard,  illustrator,  85. 

Questionnaires,  265. 
Questions  asked  in  reference 

libraries,  61. 
Quincy,  Josiah,  8. 
Quincy,       Mass.,       teacher's 

meeting  in,  14. 
Quincy  Public  Library,  school 

deposits  in,  14. 

Radial  stacks,  279. 

Radiators,  296. 

Ranck,    S.    H.,    articles    by, 

370,   375. 
Rathbone,  J.  A.,  articles  by, 

373.  375. 


vice-director  library  school, 
369. 
Readers,  distribution  of,  269. 

enumeration  of,  37. 
Reading,  outside  of  libraries, 

127. 
Reading  rooms,  56. 
combined     with     assembly 
rooms   (New  York),  282. 
for  children,  83. 
in   Sunday   schools,   102. 
open-air      (roof     gardens), 
284. 
Rebinding  of  books,  227. 
Receipts,  how  treated,  24. 
Reference     books,     for     chil- 
dren, 98. 
Reference  rooms,  56. 
Reference  work,  list  of  books 

and  articles  on,  374. 

Reflection,  lighting  by,  301. 

Registration,  central,  247. 

in  children's  rooms,  93. 

of  readers,  36. 

Relative  location,  on  shelves, 

166. 
Repairing  books,  220. 
Replacement  of  books,  133. 
how    treated    on    accession 

record,  171. 
or  rebinding?  228. 
Reports,  annual,  255. 
contents  of,  266. 
of  expenditures,  24. 
Reprinting  by  libraries,  sug- 
gested, 215. 
of  out-of-print  books,  146. 
Reprints,    unauthorized,    150. 


392 


INDEX 


Reserve  system,  48. 

"Revolving  Library"  at  Kit- 
tery.  Me.,  6. 

"Ribbon"  arrangement  for 
fiction,  167. 

Richardson,   E.   C,  book  by, 
372. 
on  classification,  157. 
Princeton  classification  de- 
vised by,  163. 

Richmond,  Va.,  Carnegie  gift 
refused  by,  210. 

Roof  gardens  on  libraries, 
284. 

Royal  Blind  Asylum,  Edin- 
burgh, 324. 

Rubber  tile  floors,  288. 

Rudolph  Indexer,  184. 

Rules,   codification   of,  204. 
for  cataloguing,  181. 

Sackett,  Gertrude,  article  by, 
370. 

St.  Gabriel's  Park  Branch, 
New  York,  lighting  dia- 
gram of,  299. 

St.  Louis  plan  for  duplicates, 
20,  50,  135. 

St.  Louis  Public  Library,  fac- 
similes     of     application 
blank  in,  36. 
of  borrower's  card  in,  45. 

Salaries,  197,  336. 

Salisbury,  Conn.,  library,  8. 

San  Francisco  Conference,  A. 
L.  A.,  10. 

San  Francisco  Public  Li- 
brary, children's  room  in, 
13. 


Sand   blast  for  cleaning  ex- 
teriors, 289. 
Sawyer,  H.  P.,  article-  by,  376, 
principal   library   school, 
369. 
Schedule    of    working    time, 

195. 
School  assistant,  97. 
School   Department   in   libra- 
ries, 96. 
School  instruction  in  library, 

98. 
School  work,  95. 
history  of,  14. 
list   of   articles   and   books 
on,  374. 
Scrapbook    card     catalogues, 

184. 
Scudder,   Horace   E.,   volume 
on  "Public  Libraries  One 
Hundred   Years  Ago,"   6. 
Seaman's      Friend      Society, 
traveling  libraries  of,  17. 
Seattle   Public   Library,   chil- 
dren's room  in,  13. 
Second-hand  books,  142. 
Sections,  of  A.  L.  A.,  346. 
Selection,  of  books,  125. 
regulated  by  statistics,  268. 
of  children's  books,  80. 
Selective  education,  106. 
in  library  schools,  337. 
Self-registration  by  childrea, 

93. 
Sets  of  volumes,  143. 
Sharp,  K.  L.,  article  by,  374. 
Sheaf  catalogue,  185. 


t 


393 


INDEX 


Sheets,  unbound,  purchase  of, 

142. 
Shelf  arrangement,  153. 
Shelf  list,  171. 
union,    in    branch    system, 

248. 
Shelf-list   sheets,    illustration 

of,  172. 
Shelving,  294. 
for  blind  books,  325. 
for  music,  294. 
Simmons       College       library 

school,  331. 
Sites  for  libraries,  276. 
Sixth  Ave.,  N.  Y.,  experience 

of  branch  on,  243. 
Smith,     Goldwin,    on    public 

support,  25. 
Smith,  T.  L.,  article  by,  375. 
"Social  Libraries"  of  Massa- 
chusetts, 7. 
Society   for   the   Propagation 

of  the  Gospel,  5. 
Soule,   C.   C,   book   by,   371; 

article  by,  374. 
Southern    states,    negroes    in 

libraries  in,  52. 
Special  cards,  41. 
Special  Libraries  Association, 

120,  342,  347. 
Specifications,     preliminary, 

for  buildings,  272. 
Sperry,   Earl  E.,  director  li- 
brary school,  369. 
Springfield      City      Library, 

bills  for  accession  record 

in,  170. 
Stack  room,  277. 


Staff  of  a  library,  192. 

Staff  meetings,  202. 

Staff  rooms,  201. 

Stained  glass  in  a  library, 
286. 

Stairs,  location  of,  284. 

Standards,  duplication  of, 
135. 

Stansbury,  A.  L.,  article  by, 
371. 

State,  library  and,  19. 

State  Commissions,  see  Com- 
missions. 

State    Library    Associations, 
348. 
list  of,  366. 

State  traveling  libraries,  108. 

Statistics,  library,  253. 
of  traveling  libraries.  111. 

Stations,  distributing  and  de- 
livery, 233. 

Steam  heat,  295. 

Stearns,  L.  E.,  articles  by, 
13,  372,  374. 

Steiner,  B.  C,  article  by,  374. 
On  free  access,  10. 

Stencils  for  mural  decora- 
tion, 312. 

Stevens,  E.  F.,  article  by, 
375;  director  library 
school,  369. 

Stewart,  J.  D.,  books  by,  372. 

Stone  and  Webster's  library, 
Boston,  121. 

Story  hours,  88. 

Stout,  Hon.  I.  H.,  17,  108. 

Strohm,  Adam,  article  by,  374. 

Study  rooms,  57. 


394 


INDEX 


Subject  catalogue,  175. 
Subject   headings,    176. 
Subscription  books,  143. 
Subscription  libraries,  6. 
Summer  library  schools,  331. 
Sunday  use  of  libraries,  54. 
Sunday-school  libraries,   101. 
Supervision       in      children's 

rooms,  90, 
Supplementary  reading,  96. 
Syracuse    University    library 

school,  331. 

Tables    (furniture),   295. 

lighting  of,  298. 
Tally     cards     for     accession 

record,   170. 
Taxation,  support  of  library 

by,  23. 
Teacher  for  blind,  on  library 

staff,  328. 
Teachers  and  librarians,  joint 

meetings  of,  104. 
objections      to      children's 

rooms  by,  92. 
privileges  of,  100. 
Technical   collections,  list  of 

articles    and    books    on, 

375. 
Technical  literature,  119. 
Technology  departments,  120. 
Terrazzo,  for  floors,  288. 
Teutonic     races,     as     library 

users,  244. 
Text-books,  102. 
Theft,  In  free-access  libraries, 

39. 
of  text-books,  103. 
punishment  of,  33. 


Thomson,   O.   R.   H.,   articles 
by,  372,  374. 

Tilton,  E.  L.,  article  by,  371. 

Time     during    which     books 
may  be   held,  47. 

Time    sheet,    illustration    of, 
194. 

Title  catalogue,  175. 

Titles  in  catalogue,  180. 

Torrey,  C.  A.,  article  by,   374. 

Town  libraries,  history  of,  6. 

Townsend,    Eliza    E.,    article 
by,  376. 

Trade,   comparisons    with,   3. 

Trade   List   Annual,   used   in 
book  selection,  130. 

Trades,  literature  of,  118. 

Training     for     librarianship, 
330. 
library,   list   of  books   and 
articles  on,  375. 

Training  classes,  332. 

Traveling  libraries,  108. 
for  schools,   96,  99. 
history  of,  17. 
list   of  books   and   articles 

on,  376. 
maintained  by  states,  27. 

Traveling    Library    Commis- 
sion, 28. 

Tremont   (N.  Y.  City),  as  li- 
brary location,  245. 

Trenton,    N.    J.,    Public    Li- 
brary, 9. 

Tri-state  meeting,  351. 

Trustees,  duties  of,  22. 

Tube  lamps,  302. 

Tungsten  lamps,  300. 


395 


INDEX 


Two-book  system,  41. 

Two-card  charging  systems, 
44. 

Tyler,  Alice  S.,  article  by, 
874;  director  library 
school,  369. 

Type  systems  for  blind,  317. 

Typewriters,  use  of,  in  cata- 
loguing, 185. 
for  blind,  323. 

Union  catalogues,  in  branch 
systems,  248. 

Union  shelf  list,  171. 

U.  S.  catalogue,  used  in  book 
selection,  130. 

U.  S.  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, catalogue  cards  is- 
sued by,  187. 

Vacation  privilege,  41. 
Vacations,  196. 
Vacuum  cleaners,  290. 
Ventilation,  297. 
Vermont  library  laws,  8. 
Vincent,   Geo.   E.,  article  by, 

374. 
Virginia,    traveling    libraries 

in,  108. 
Visible  indexes,  184. 
Vocational  training,  106. 

Waite,  Wm.  R.,  inventor  of 
N.  Y.  Point,  319. 

Walls,  washed  or  repainted, 
290. 

Walter,  Frank  K.,  vice-direc- 
tor library  school,  369. 

Warren  and  Clark,  volume  on 
"Public  Libraries"  edited 
hy,  7. 


Water-curtains,  287. 
Weitenkampf,  P.,  article  by, 

370. 
West  Side,  N.  Y.,  reading  on, 

127. 
Western       Reserve       library 

school,  331. 
White,  E.  E.,  11. 
Willcox,    E.    S.,    article    by, 

373. 
Willis,      Ralph      T.,      mural 

proofs   by,  312. 
Wilmington,     Del.,     Institute 

library,  121. 
Windows    in    libraries,    285. 
Windsor,    P.    L.,    director   li- 
brary school,  369. 
Winsor,    Justin,    as    author, 

219. 
on  accession  book,  170. 
Wisconsin,     traveling     librar 

ries  in,  17,  108. 
Women  as  library  assistants, 

121. 
health  of,  197. 
Women    readers,    favored   by 

libraries,   123. 
Woodlawn    (N.   Y.   City),   as 

library  location,  245. 
Worcester     Public     Library, 

school  work  in,  15. 
Wyer,  J.   I.,  director  library 

school,  369. 

Xavier  Society,  323. 

Yorkville  (N.  Y.  City),  as  li- 
brary location,  245. 

THE  END 


396 


(8) 


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